Getting Baked
by Kerstae
Summary: AU. Logan and Veronica are not friends, and he spends his days making her life a misery.. that is until the day Veronica discovers the truth about Logan's alibi the day of Lilly Kane's murder. How will he react when she accuses him of killing her best friend?
1. Chapter 1

Veronica Mars was officially terrified, her heart was racing, she stared at the email on her screen again, the world started to blur in front of her and she began to feel like she was going to throw up. _This wasn't happening…_ it couldn't have been him.

She had only asked for the information to help rule him out… Suddenly the journalism office in the computer lab was just a smaller room in the much larger Prison that was Neptune High, trapped in a school with the most likely murderer of her best friend Lilly Kane. Logan Echolls. Lillys supposed grieving boyfriend.

Logan had lied about his alibi that day… here it was in black and white. Hard, unavoidable proof… His plates had been confirmed as being flagged up on the border station passing over at 8.24am. The day Lilly had been murdered, Logan hadn't been in Mexico with the Casablanca's brothers… She looked at the time stamp again… he had had enough time to have been right here… in Neptune. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her dad had been right about Abel Koontz… he had given a false confession in exchange for being paid off by one of the wealthiest families in Neptune, Lillys own parents.. but why? Duncan… The Kane's had been trying to protect their son Duncan.. he must have been the one to find Lilly… that was why her Dad had been so adamant about going after Lilly's father, Jake Kane. He had known they had been lying before they ousted him as Sheriff.

Veronica, was very much her father's daughter, Keith Mars hadn't been able to let the investigation go, and neither had she, except instead of cluing her in, he had shut her out of it. Told her to stay away from the murder investigation that had ruined their family and his career, she hadn't listened, she had been sneaking into her father safe for months before it had occurred to her… her dad was a Private Investigator, he knew how to keep secrets. If the Kane's had been involved in covering up Lilly's murder, he wouldn't have left the updates to his investigations as somewhere as obvious as the Mars Investigations Office Safe… he would be sneakier about it.

He would have hidden them at home, guarded by a very territorial 3 year old Pitbull. Veronica had searched his room every chance she had gotten, since he had seemed determined to keep her as far away from the details of the investigation as possible, Veronica had been playing her own game of Spy Vs Spy with her dad for months.

She had found the police files and evidence he had been collecting in a box labelled Playboys in his wardrobe, she had spent hours poring over each of the papers, and she could almost recite the contents by heart.

Her dad had been right… he hadn't deserved to have been ousted as Sheriff and her faith in him had been completely justified. Forces much larger than her had been trying to derail the search, Had Logan's attempts to make turn her against her father been because he was the real killer?

Something tugged at Veronica's brain… something important was trying to scream its way into the fore front of her thoughts. _What was it?_

"I've got a secret… and it's a good one" Lilly's honey warm voice whispered conspiringly.

Lilly definitely had her secrets… had she known that Duncan thought she was their half sister?

Veronica's mother had confessed to having continued her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Jake Kane in secret a few weeks ago when Veronica had tracked her down. It had raised all kinds of questions about Veronicas paternity, questions she didn't really want to think about.

If it was true… it meant she hadn't just lost her best friend, she had lost her sister and that she was currently about to be locked in a classroom with her killer when the newspaper club met in the next fifteen minutes.

Her mind raced, the walls felt like they were closing in on her, sweat broke out against her forehead. She felt sick. _I'm having a panic attack_ she realized. She quickly closed down her computer screen, wiped the history just encase before logging off completely… she had to get out of here.

Classmates started to filter in to the room and take up positions in their seats, Veronica grabbed her back pack and headed towards the door, she barely made it into the bathroom stall before she started to throw up. Her skin was flushed and she looked slightly green in the mirror under the florescent lights of the girls bathroom. Her father was out of town… he had gone to Vega's to chase down a lead on the Abel Koontz alibi, she had garnered that much from her snooping.

She thought about calling him but what good could that do? He still needed now more than ever to get this witnesses confession before they could move on the evidence she had uncovered about Logan.

 _She was alone…_ she couldn't take the evidence she had to Sheriff Lamb unless she could explain how she had gotten it, and even then.. until her dad proved Abel Koontz had lied, he wouldn't believe her. It was just Veronica and Logan. He stalked her about the campus, there wasn't anywhere she went that she didn't feel his gaze watching her, would he notice the change in her demeanor? Would her eyes betray her that she knew?

She needed a stiff drink. _That was it_ she thought… _The shot glass._

Lilly had a new shot glass in her car the day she had been murdered, a novelty tourist shot glass that she couldn't have had time to buy between her time leaving the Pep Squad car wash and getting home by the time her body was found the day when she had been killed.

A novelty tourist shot glass… like the kind one might buy as a gift from someone to his girlfriend after a weekend surfing in Mexico?

 _I got baked in Encinada…_ the shot glass read. It meant that Logan had caught up with Lilly that day. Looking at her reflection in the mirror she saw how pale she was, this was no poker face.. she couldn't leave looking like this. She pulled out her make up case and started to apply her eye liner and mascara again, covering her face in foundation, this was something she did sometimes when she got nervous… short of being able to scrub the room clean, she would paint her game face on. She applied some lip gloss and sprayed some perfume. _Fake it until you make it home_ … she thought.

It was three against one. Dick and Cassidy Casablanca's had lied to the sheriff's department about Logan still being with them that day, they couldn't be trusted, so she would have to watch out for them too. She really wished she could speak to Duncan… but he had been a zombie for much of the last year. Her heart was beating like a jack hammer as she left the bathroom and returned to class, passing a pink tardy excuse slip to the substitute teacher, Ms Adrienna Holtz. Oh good, she was here, their little verbal sparring matches were the highlight of his day.

"Seems your trailer park ex has started getting all dolled up for you now" Logan snickered as he elbowed Duncan in the arm and nodded in Veronica's direction. Of all the activities her guidance counsellor had suggested… why couldn't it have involved something other than journalism club? Cheerleading or Basket Weaving…. Anything to be away from Logan Echolls, she hugged her arms tighter to her chest and opened her assignment portfolio, they wanted pictures taken at the football game that afternoon. "Oh come on DK, you gotta at least appreciate the aroma of meth lab, she is pulling out all the stops to impress" he teased winking at her as Duncan did his best to ignore him much to his annoyance while Logan continued to stare at Veronica venomously.

"Your mum still hosting that Barbeque this weekend?" Duncan asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, she's flying in some rosemary lamb kebabs for the producers for my dad's new 15 million dollar crack pile" Logan declared, bored, he hated discussing the dysfunctional Echolls family dramas, not when it distracted him from his one true pleasure in life, sticking it to Veronica Mars.

"Kebabs. That sounds good" Duncan agreed, passing Logan his assignment folder.

"Yeah, everyone enjoys a good meaty skewer… some more than most" he flashed his eyebrows suggestively at Veronica and gave her a sadistic grin. He waited for her witty retort, but she didn't even look in his direction. He must have been on fire today because he could have sworn he saw her visibly shrink back into herself. An echo of some forgotten protective instinct made him want to go to her and comfort her, wrap her up in his arms and tell her he was sorry. She looked… unreadable, holding her arms around herself like she was cold. It was a part of him he loathed, as much as he had been trying to provoke a response from Duncan, he felt like an asshole, once upon a time they had been friends… but the other part of him hated her. She had been one of his best friends, when they had lost Lilly, he had needed her… they had needed each other. He had lost Duncan when she had sided with her father in his crusade to destroy his best friend's family. She had invaded his dreams, crept into his thoughts at unwelcome times of the day. It was all Veronica's fault. She deserved this. His mind flashed back to night of Shelly Pomeroys party when he been doing shots and licked salt from her neck and kissed a Lime Wedge from her mouth.. she had been dressed in a beautiful white dress, quiet and perfect beneath him… he had been so hot for her.. the taste of her skin still haunted him. Guilt gnawed at his insides. _How could he be betraying Lilly's memory like this?_ Veronica had been her best friend.

"Hey Man, shut up" Duncan warned him, but he never turned around to look at her. Teasing Veronica was one of the only things that ever got a reaction from Duncan Kane these days, but even when he did react, he did his best not to pay too much attention to her. Until this day, Logan still had no idea why Duncan and Veronica had broken up.

"Ok… don't take it so personal.. it's not like you want to be doing your ex now… what with all that time she's been spending with Weevil Navarro from what I hear these days" Logan relented, though there was a hint of jealousy in his voice, even if it wasn't obvious to anyone else. Even if he would never admit it to himself.

Weevil Navarro… the local head of the PCH biker gang at school, was one of the few people Veronica considered a friend. She had a habit of helping to bail his club members out of trouble with the local sheriffs department. Veronica's eyes widened in revelation, he could help her. She raised her hand eagerly and told the teacher she was feeling unwell again, asking to be excused to the nurse's office. Logan's heart sank a little, disappointed that she was leaving. She fled from the room as quickly as possible, casting a look over her shoulder at Logan who was watching as he swung on the backs of his chair.

 _Was that fear in her eyes?_ He thought as he righted his chair, shifting uncomfortably. Frowning he crossed his arms over himself. _What was that about?_ He had only been teasing. Veronica had never run from him before, not even that day on the beach when he had smashed the headlights in on her car with a crowbar in retaliation for her prank… she had barely even flinched. Part of him hadn't wanted to do it but he had just been so angry after the beating he had been given at home because of her little stunt of hiding a bong in his locker. If she had bothered to even try and be his friend... she would have known how much worse the beatings from Aaron Echolls had gotten. She would have known exactly what her trick had cost him. The question continued to bother him through most of his next few classes, she hadn't come back to the media room after the nurses office.

 _What was that girls problem?_ He thought as he caught sight of her again finally in the parking lot, her tire was flat again. Logan and Dick had let the air out of the tire earlier for a prank, it had become an almost fortnightly ritual of theirs, watching her bent over, working up a sweat inflating the tires while they howled and laughed, watching from inside his car. Logan didn't want to admit that it was part of his favourite time of day. He started to walk over towards his car, parked directly opposite hers the way he usually did but as soon as she saw him coming she picked up her bag and darted towards the school bus instead.

Veronica got under his skin in a way no one else could, he knew almost every little thing about her, how she never ate the bread from the sloppy joes, she just liked to dip her fries in the sauce, he had memorized every curve of her face, how she crinkled her nose when she tried to solve a problem, how she got that gorgeous smile and got to some peaceful content place when she snapped a picture that turned out just exactly as she wanted it. She was his fascination… and this wasn't like her. Not that he really knew much about her strange behaviour these days, she was always running around doing Private Investigator work for her dad and playing Nancy Drew around the school.

He watched as she climbed on the bus, leaving her car abandoned in the parking lot.. _had he really gone too far this time?_ He wondered as he watched her hand some crumpled notes to the driver and slide into her seat.

"Must have forgotten her pump today" Logan said absently, staring at the row of seats on the bus before it pulled way, guilt beginning to stir inside him again. _Why couldn't he just really hate her? Then his life would be so much simpler._ He had wished her family had just moved out of Neptune when her stupid father had lost his job… then he wouldn't have to see her every day, wouldn't have to think about her or feel guilty about the way he treated her. He wouldn't have a constant reminder of his dead girlfriend walking around wearing the heartbreak he felt all over her angelic features.

He wouldn't spend countless nights dreaming about her.

Veronica held her breath as she watched Logan staring at her as the bus pulled away, she hated leaving her car behind at school. She would have no way to hide tonight, her mind raced… she would feed Backup and call her dad, she would stay in a Motel tonight. She would have Weevil meet her in the morning and bring her to school. Her dad should be back by tomorrow afternoon, she just had to stay alive until then…

Logan finished his interviews of the players on the football field and headed back to the journalism office, he looked at the roster _, she hadn't shown up for the evening practise_ he thought as he looked at Veronica's name on the list of the student sign in sheet. She had been meant to take pictures of the team performing their drills… it wasn't like her to avoid an excuse to snap some pictures. Part of him was glad that he wouldn't have to see her, another part felt a cold shudder of _What If?_ And a cold knot of worry began to build in his stomach… _why should he be worried about her?_ He walked back to his car and saw that hers was still abandoned with a flat tire just where she had left it that afternoon. _What did he honestly care if she hadn't shown up?_ He fiddled with his keys as he sat in the car park, biting his nails he stared at her empty car longer than perhaps he should have. He owed her nothing… she was probably out staring at Duncan on the soccer field someplace he thought dismissively, but the panic was already building inside him.

It wasn't like Veronica to just disappear without a trace… he could just head over to her house to demand the jpeg files for the paper in the morning? _She didn't have to know he was only calling over to make sure she was ok._ He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the Sunset Apartment Complex, he knew from his buddy Sean that she shared a 2 bedroom apartment with her father here, he grabbed the foot pump from his car and went to her door musing to himself he could offer her a blow job if she offered him one, but there was no signs of life from the apartment. Just a large dog barking at the door.

Frowning he knocked on the door again and waited a few minutes. _No one was home. Her father is out of town,_ he had overheard that Fennel kid offering to let her come to dinner while he was gone. _She could be at the office?_ He thought, turning to go back to his car. He sighed and rested his head against the steering wheel, he knew he wouldn't be able to settle tonight unless he saw her and knew she was safe. He drove to the Mars Investigations offices but the shutter was down and there were no signs of life there either.

 _Why did he even care?_ He looked at the time on his dashboard, he would have to get home soon, he started driving towards the prestigious 0909 area code, past the gas station near the Camelot motel when he saw a familiar petite blond carrying a bag of takeout food towards a room on the upper floor. Veronica Mars. _What could she possibly be doing going to a Motel Suite at this hour?_

Fury bubbled up inside him. _How could she do this?_ A strange feeling of possessiveness rolled over him, He had been worried about her.. he had let her get his head all twisted up about her being hurt _… and she was going to meet some random guy in a Motel Suite and to think he had been stupid enough to be concerned that she was ok?_

He was going to give her a piece of his mind! _Was she really going to humiliate Duncan further by living up to her reputation?_ He made a sharp U-turn and headed back towards the motel, pulling into the driveway, seething he stormed over to the desk and asked the attendant which room the petite blond girl was in. 21B. He stormed up the stairs and found her room, banging furiously on the door.

"I know you are in there Mars!" Logan shouted, banging on the door.

Veronica's heart pounded in her chest, _how on Earth had he known she was here?_ She reached into her bag for her pepper spray and her taser.

"You'd better leave Logan" she warned him, one hand poised to dial the Sheriff's department if she had to.

"I had better leave?" he repeated incredulously. "YOU should leave!" he shouted, punching his fist against the door.

"Logan… please just leave me alone!" she sobbed as she crouched behind the door.

"If I thought for one second you would be spending the night alone, Veronica, I would just leave you to it!" he snapped.

"Just get out of here Logan!" she cried. "Get out of here before I call the Sheriff!" she screamed.

"The Sheriff? From what I remember Solicitation is a crime!" Logan spat sarcastically as he paced outside the door. "You are a MINOR, Veronica!" he reminded her. "You should go home!"

"I'm not soliciting anything!" she yelled indignantly at him through the door.

"Yeah? Then what are you even DOING here Veronica?" he demanded, the red mist was beginning to subside and his voice was returning to normal. Relief was starting to flood through him, she was ok. Pissed at him, but she was alright.

"Hiding out.. but it doesn't seem to be working out so well" she snorted at the irony, resting her head against the back of the door.

"You missed the practise session" he accused her. She laughed bitterly, hysteria starting to climb into her voice as she began shaking. _How had he found her? Her phone was too far away from where she sat on against the door._

"Oh I'm Sorry Echolls… I was too busy "getting baked in Encinada!" she giggled, her voice breaking. She had emailed her father everything she found. _He won't get away with it.. even if he kills me_ she thought.

Logan felt his blood run cold. _What had she just said?_

"What did you just say?" his voice was small, hollow.

"I'd offer you a drink… but that shot glass is locked up in an evidence box somewhere in the Sheriffs department… we will just have to drink out of the bottle instead huh?" she retorted sarcastically, baiting him through the door. She was done being afraid of him. If he was going to hurt her… she wouldn't go down without a fight.

 _She knew…she knew he had been in Neptune that day. No wonder she had looked so afraid of him today.._

"Veronica… please let me in!" Logan pleaded, knocking the door. He was desperate to talk to her, to look her in the eyes, to explain.

"Why? So you can Kill me like you killed Lilly?" she shrieked as he twisted the handle, realizing her voice was coming from much further down the door he crouched down beside where she would be sitting on the other side. He felt like she had knocked the wind right out of him… he felt sick.

"Y-you think I-I killed Lilly?" he repeated in disbelief. "Veronica…."

"There's CCTV footage of you crossing the Mexican border Logan…" she sobbed. "I KNOW you were here…. Abel Koontz was paid by someone to confess…" she elaborated, her voice was matter of fact, almost empty. His mind was spinning, he crouched up on the opposite side of the door, old wounds ripping right open. " _So you can Kill me like you killed Lilly?"_ she had shrieked. Veronica thought he had killed the love of his life?

"It wasn't me!" Logan told her. Veronica had been one of his closest friends… _how could she think he was capable of something like this?_

"I don't believe you… you lied to my dad Logan… 9 times out of 10 its usually the boyfriend" she declared, rhyming off the statistics.

"I would never hurt Lilly !" he roared, burying his head into his hands. "Abel Koontz.. confessed…" he repeated, he began to cry.

"Yea… because someone paid him. Probably someone who threatened him… someone with a temper" her voice was thick with inference.

"I don't have a temper" Logan denied.

"Yeah? Tell that to my CAR" she accused him, suddenly he could see the last year from her perspective. He had turned her into a social pariah at school, he had delighted in taking his pain and frustrations out on her, making her suffer for her betrayal of their friendship and her misguided faith in her incompetent father who had allowed the crime scene video to be leaked all over the internet under his supervision as Sheriff. He had been obsessed with her. Of course she would interpret all of that as a threat now _… how could she not think the worst of him after what he had put her through?_

"You had put that bong in my Locker…" Logan explained helplessly. "I can't believe you'd think that I could've hurt Lilly" he replied, his voice was breaking.

 _Was he crying?_ Veronica thought.

"I don't know what to think Logan… I don't know why you would have lied…" she told him, tears streaming down her face as she held the taser in her hand. _She should call Weevil…_

"Please let me in.. we need to talk about this…" he pleaded, he sounded so lost. "I didn't hurt Lilly, Veronica… I swear…" he sobbed, grief ripped through his shoulders and shook him. He heard her stand up on the other side of the door, she walked away a few paces, moving around inside for a moment and then he realised she was opening the door. She stared at him for a few moments and then slowly stepped aside to allow him inside, she still held her taser in her hand. She didn't trust him.

"I'm leaving… and you aren't going to follow me" she told him boldly.

"Wait… Please wait" Logan pleaded as she held up the taser and flicked the switch in a warning. His brown eyes bore into her. "Veronica…. Please" he beseeched, his hands held up beside him as he walked backwards into the room and sat down on the farthest of the twin beds. "I won't come any closer to you than this, I swear it… just… please hear me out" he begged, his voice was broken, something in the way he spoke to her was…desperate, vulnerable?

"Why should I believe a word you say?" she demanded, staying by the door.

"Because I loved Lilly, Veronica… I would never have hurt her" he swore, there was such conviction in his tone that Veronica was starting to doubt herself.

"That still doesn't explain why you followed me here.." she pointed out.

"I-I was worried about you" he confessed.

"Ok… now I know you are lying!" she spat at him. He pursed his lips together and lowered his hands to rest in his lap, not quite about to meet her eye. "You have been making my life hell for MONTHS Logan… now the truth comes out and suddenly you are worried about me? Worried about what I'm going to tell the Sheriff more like!"

"The Sheriff?" he rasped. "Veronica…. I haven't done anything… you didn't show up for Practise and I got scared that something had happened to you.." he explained.

"Lying doesn't suit you Logan" she informed him as she ran out and slammed the door behind her.

Logan felt like someone had just ripped the bottom out his world, and he was falling helpless into the abyss of questions this was raising, he was freaking out. Keith Mars had found a witness that proved Abel Koontz had lied?

That meant Lilly's killer was still out there somewhere… That meant he had been wrong about Veronica's dad.. that meant he had been making her life hell for nothing. He raced from the bed and chased after her.

"We were friend's Veronica!" he called out after her. "You KNOW me" he pleaded, he was much taller than her and it hadn't taken him long to close the short distance between them.

"I thought I did Logan… but now I KNOW you are psychotic jackass and by God if you don't stop following me I will taser you" she threatened as she turned to hold it up to him.

"I didn't hurt Lilly" he told her again firmly.

"I don't believe you" she replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Logan Echolls felt Veronica's blue eyes slice all the way to his core. She didn't believe him… she thought he was a murderer. She thought he had killed her best friend, his girlfriend Lilly Kane.

"You don't believe me?" he demanded, his eyes were wet with tears.

"No.. I don't" Veronica spat, her fingers curled tightly around the small black taser in her hand.

"I would have died for her Veronica!" he growled, his voice was much too loud and it echoed around the car park. At this hour, the Camelott Motel was mostly empty aside from a few cars for the more.. hourly renting crowd. No one could hear them. "I hate myself for having been so close to her that day… for having been here and it not having made any difference" he sobbed.

"Were you there?" she demanded suspiciously.

"No- do you think she would be dead now if I had been?" he replied, disgusted at the very suggestion.

"I don't know what to think Logan… all I know is that you have been lying to everyone, and Dick and Cassidy are in on it somehow… that the Kane's are protecting someone… that my dad found a soccer uniform in the washing machine and that none of it matters because my best friend is still dead!" she shrieked, she still felt way too vulnerable up on the second floor with him, but she wasn't going to move any closer to the staircase encase he used it as his opportunity to push her down them. The door to her Motel room was still laying wide open.

Logan searched her face, she looked exhausted, her blond curls fell in ringlets around her and her mascara was smudged. She looked so small and frightened, and it was torturing him to think that the majority of this fear, was a direct result of him.

"So.. lets talk this out… Veronica.. I swear to you… I didn't kill Lilly" he repeated emotion breaking his voice, his eyes imploring her to believe him _. Of all the people he needed to believe him, it was her._

"And I swear, that if you did… I will find out the truth" she warned him.

"I came here that morning.. but you guys were at the car wash, and I didn't really want to get into it, so I wrote her a note and I left it in her car, with the shot glass… and then I just drove around, trying to get my head cleared, I was already half way back to Mexico before Sean and Lacey called us about the murder" Logan told her softly. "I knew she was seeing someone.. it was driving me crazy" he confessed.

"Ive got a secret… and it's a good one" Lillys voice sang in her head.

"So you killed her" she accused him, standing there assessing her escape options.

"NO!" he protested taking a step closer to her, she gasped and took several steps away from him. Her heart was racing, she looked like a frightened animal. Logan felt his stomach twist, she was petrified of him and he was only making it worse. "Please… Please Veronica… I need you to trust me.. I can't bare the thought that you would think I could be capable of something like this…." He begged, his hands open, slowly reaching out for hers. _Of all the people he needed to believe him… of all the people in his life who he needed to trust him.. it was Veronica._

"Don't come any closer!" she snapped, flaring the taser on and glaring at him.

"It wasn't me!" he bellowed, growing impatient, he regretted raising his voice immediately because she yelped and jumped back, tears streaming down her face. His heart ached, he wanted to wrap his arms around her, to comfort her. "Please don't be scared of me…." He pleaded. "Look at me Veronica" his voice was careful, he approached her softly as she shrank back against the wall of the Motel room beside hers. He towered above her, she was so achingly close, he could almost reach out and cup her face.

"Don't touch me" she choked reaching her hand out to thrust the taser into his ribcage, but Logan was faster, he grabbed her wrists and pushed her back against the concrete. Pinning her arms helplessly against the wall, she shrieked and wriggled against him.

"Hey! Keep it down out there!" the occupant of the room behind them shouted, she was just about to call for help when Logan threw his mouth against hers, stifling her assistance for help with a kiss, swallowing her protests and pleas for help. Anyone who paid any attention to them would be thinking that they were just fooling around. He yanked the taser out of her hand, dropping it to the ground as she twisted trying to release his hold on her. He felt her struggling against his mouth, part of him wanted to stay right there, to taste her, to run his hands along her hips until she started kissing him back but she continued to try and pull away from him so he reached his other arm behind her and picked her up, holding her tightly to him, twisting her arm behind her back slightly to prevent her from escaping, she kicked in vain but she couldn't make him release her, he marched them back into the room so she bite his lip, he could taste blood. He twirled them both inside her Motel room and kicked the door closed. She erupted in a torrent of slaps and kicks as he put her down, he steadied her wrists and pushed her back from him, her breathing was panicked, she sobbed. She was trapped in there with him.

He reached his hand up to assess the damage to his lips, and he stared at her. _This was escalating faster beyond anything his mind could process. What was he going to do?_

"Yeah Logan… You look really innocent to me now!" she panted sarcastically as she backed away from him, he grabbed onto the other end of her bag and threw it away from her towards the bed, out of her reach, closing the space between them to pull her phone from her back pocket to throw it away from her before she could dial out.

"Will you just calm down?" he argued as he tried to grab hold of her shoulders. "I just want to talk to you…" he declared, his mind raced as he tried to think of ways he could diffuse this situation, to calm her down. _He had just man-handled her into a Motel room alone with someone she thought was a murderer, there would be no way to calm her down…_ he thought. This situation was only getting worse.

"Get away from the door, give me back my phone!" she screamed at him as he stood in front of the door.

"It's not like that…. I just need you to listen.." he pleaded, he started pacing, running his hand through his hair. "I don't want to scare you Veronica" he told her.

"NO… you just kidnap me and Lock me in a Motel room alone room with you… that is VERY reassuring" she spat mockingly.

"Kidnap?" he choked incredulously "This is YOUR room…"

"Is that what you are gonna call it after you murder me and hide my body in the Ice Machine?" she spluttered as she backed away from him. Kicking herself slightly for giving him ideas.

"GOD! I AM NOT TRYING TO HURT YOU!" he barked, _why didn't she believe him?_

"All you have done for the past year.. " Veronica cried "is hurt me Logan" her voice was so small and honest and the words sliced through him, the pain in her beautiful blue eyes holding him hostage. Guilt slammed into him, _how could this be reality? He reached out to comfort her, his brown eyes pleading with her to come to him, he just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and make her feel safe._

"Now just stay away from me…" she warned tears were pouring hot and heavy down her cheeks as she kicked him squarely between the legs, pulling a small canister of something from behind her back and gave him a face full of pepper spray. She couldn't get past him to the front door as he doubled over, blocking her exit as he cried out in pain. The world blurred in front of his eyes. She retreated from him bolting to the bathroom, and slamming it behind her. He wasn't fast enough to react in time, gasping he wiped desperately at his eyes.

"Damn it Veronica!" he screamed, sinking to his knees he panted for a few moments, getting up and reaching for the bathroom door. He shoved into it with his shoulder against the pathetic substandard lock, knocking it open… his eyes widened as he looked around the empty room, the bathroom window was wide open and she wasn't there. A muddy petite footprint staining the bath tub, he darted to the window and looked out, he saw the black railing of the fire-escape directly beneath the windows… of course. _Leave it to Veronica Mars to choose the one Motel room with the perfect escape route. She's gone…_ he thought panicked.

Veronica felt her lungs burning as her feet pounded the pavement, she had no money, no keys to her house and no phone. The Sheriff's department was on the other side of town and there was no way she would get help this far away into the 0909 area code. Her mind raced with the available options of where she could go.. _where would she be safe?_ Logan Echolls would be looking for her soon, the taste of his blood was still in her mouth. Duncan Kane's house was out of the question, there was still too much going on with the cover up she didn't know to risk involving him. For all she knew, they were protecting both Duncan and Logan, son of a movie star Aaron Echolls.

 _He would be calling in reinforcements soon,_ she thought. Logan was popular in this area of Neptune, and it wouldn't have been the first time he planned a hunting party to look for her she thought, remembering the day he had rounded up some of her classmates so they could trash her car. It was already getting dark outside, it wasn't safe for her to be wandering around. Her dad was still on his way back from Vega's but she had no way to contact him. She didn't know what to do… suddenly she had a light bulb moment, there was a junior PCH biker kid Mateo Lobos who worked in the Neptune Plaza arcade by the pier just off the beach, about half a mile from where she was. If she could get to him, he could call Weevil and he could come help her, she thought trying to get her breath back.. she would have to hurry, because just then, she saw a familiar yellow T Bird turning around the corner heading towards her direction.


	3. Chapter 3

Logan Echolls looked at his cell phone lighting up on the dashboard, his father was calling him again. He was out much later than he had intended to be, he glanced at his face in the rear-view mirror. _He looked deranged_ he thought sullenly, looking at his red puffy eyes, they were still watering, he wasn't sure if it was tears from grief or the pepper spray Veronica had blasted into his face twenty minutes ago. His lip was still throbbing.

 _Of course she had run from him…_ he scolded himself. He had over powered her, carried her against her will into the Camelott Motel Suite and tried to stop her from leaving. He had taken her phone, disarmed her.. the more he replayed it in his head, the worse it became. _What the hell had he been thinking?_

His heart was pounding, it felt like the world had just chewed him up and spat him out _. The girl he loved thought he was a murderer._ The thought whispered unwelcomely around his head. _Surely that wasn't why he was so upset? He didn't love her_ he reasoned. The personalized ringtone continues to ring as Godsmack "I fucking hate you" started to fill the car, his dad had called twice already.

"Where have you gone Veronica?" he muttered under his breath to no one in particular, as if somehow the cold night air would summon up an answer. 30 minutes ago.. he had been sat in this very car searching for Veronica Mars. He had found her at the Camelott Motel carrying some take out back to her room. He had been pissed off at her for leaving him alone to carry out their journalism assignment on his own, he had thought she was going there for some illicit hook up.. but it turns out, she had been hiding from him. Her plan probably would have worked if he had just gone straight home after meeting with the football team, instead, he had went by her house and the former Sheriff, Keith Mars's Private Investigations office to give her a piece of his mind, but mostly because he was sick with worry. She hadn't been there, he had needed to stop and get fuel before he went home when he had seen her crossing the parking lot and going up the stairs to her room.

30 minutes ago… it had just been another day in his life of hating Veronica Mars.

Then she had thrown the grenade that had ripped his whole world apart. She had been hiding from him… because she knew he lied about his Alibi the day his girlfriend Lilly Kane had been murdered.. she had left her car abandoned at school to avoid seeing him, she had run from the motel room in the middle of the night, leaving him curled over and gasping as she had defended herself.

 _How had she even found out about the Shot Glass?_ He wondered.

" _I don't believe you"_ she had told him when he had pleaded his innocence. He turned down the most likely road that she would have taken, pursuing her was so much more difficult considering he was confined to the roads and she could run through all the small neighbourhoods he couldn't drive down. He had to talk to her. To make her see his side of the story, the thought that she could even think he was capable of murdering Lilly was destroying him. He could be a jackass sometimes… but he wasn't a bad person. He wasn't evil in the ways she had suggested. He wouldn't have killed Lilly, he wouldn't have destroyed her brother Duncan's family, he wouldn't have ruined his best friend's life, and he wasn't capable of something so hideous.

The phone rang one more time and he lifted it angrily.

"Where are you?" Aaron Echoll's voice growled down the phone.

"I'm in the car… my classmate Veronica… she's had some trouble with her car" Logan excused.

"For the last two hours?" Aaron interrogated, Logan knew from the tone of his voice that he had already decided this would be night spent in the studio room with… what? Child Abusers choice… would it be a belt this evening or one of his prized movie boots to kick against his son's ribcage? Aint love grand?

"She to leave something off at work for her dad.. and then I drove her home… we ended up getting take-out… I'm sorry.. it won't happen again" Logan stammered.

"Veronica? Is that the Mars girl?" Aaron asked cautiously.

"Yeah Dad… We just had a lot of work to do for this article after school.. and I was going to see about calling over to visit Duncan.. use his video editor" he continued, trying to appease his dad. He heard a conversation going on in the background between his parents, his mother's voice calming his father.

"Your mother was concerned about your whereabouts, but she says she is glad to see you reconnecting with old friends" Aaron relented.

"I know it's a bit last minute to ask… but I was thinking… since it's so late by the time Duncan and I will be finished up… maybe I could stay in the Kane's guest house tonight?" Logan suggested. He really wanted to avoid going home, but mostly… he had to find Veronica Mars.

"As long as you don't bother Celeste and Jake" Aaron agreed, his voice was thick with anger. "You and I will continue this conversation tomorrow" he warned as he hung up the phone.

Logan threw the phone against the dashboard and it ricocheted around the car, at least now he had some time. He stared at the small leather bag, it contained her camera and her computer _. Maybe there was something in there that could help him to locate her?_

He pulled over into a nearby Starbucks car park and pulled out the laptop, he opened it and tried to boot it up… password protected, of course. He tried the usual Password1234. He tried Lilly's name. He tried Duncan's name… he tried the name of her dog Backup123. Nothing worked.

 _Damn it!_ He slammed the computer closed again and started to flick through the pictures in her camera… perhaps they would show him something. There weren't many, it seemed like the memory card had been recently replaced, there were several funny pictures of her dog, of kids around school doing various activitys, the odd photograph of license plates… and then there were pictures of the beach, of birds and families playing happily together.. of Neptune City night life, lit up under a thousand beautiful lights. He felt strange looking through her photo's… like he was snooping and reading her diary or something. He was seeing the world through her eyes.. and then there were the to be expected few of Duncan and their old crowd at school, hanging out on the beach.. then he found one of him surfing.. and a few others in between random pictures of school events, another of him caught in a private moment after school while no one else had been looking as he sat outside the Lilly memorial fountain.. She had captured the image of the pensive heartbreak carved into his features, the broken slump in his shoulders. This was a moment that was supposed to go unwitnessed… yet here it was, she had captured him in a moment when he had been supposed to be completely alone… intruded into his grief… something in his gut twisted.

 _How could she have ever taken this image… looked at him this way… really seen him beyond all the jackass bravado… and still thought he could have killed Lilly?_

Lilly… she was gone.. and it still hurt. Guilt bubbled up inside him, why hadn't he been there? It was all his fault. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to chase away the memories of the crime scene video.. her beautiful face tore up on one side, blood everywhere.. her eyes… empty.. vacant… he felt like someone had hollowed out his soul and left him as glassy and void as the dead look in her eyes.

 _Damn you Veronica…. How could you think this of me?_ Tears started to steam down his face as he rested his head against his seat and tried to think about what to do… even the suggestion of this would ruin his friendship with Duncan… his one last link to girl he had loved.

Perhaps he should just take her laptop to the Sheriff's Department himself? Call Dick and Cassidy and go down to Sheriff Lamb's office and make a statement? Should he call a lawyer?

He was lost in his own thoughts when a knock on the window beside him shook him from his haze, he looked beside him. It was Meg Manning, Duncan's new girlfriend, and her sister. He pressed the button and wound down the window a little.

"Hi Logan" she smiled pleasantly, wrapping her pink cardigan around her tighter.

"H-hey Meg" he replied. Oh great… witnesses.

"Everything ok?" she asked sweetly, her pretty blue eyes concerned, she was cradling a coffee in her hand.

"Me? Yeah I'm good… just too much Fine from my new freshener" he said playfully as he hit the dice cube air fresheners hanging from his mirror. She nodded and then frowned as she looked at the bag of stuff sitting on the seat beside him.

"You here with Veronica?" she questioned, he followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at the unmistakable identifiable Mars camera on the seat next to him.

"Uh—uh yeah.. we just finished up an article at school" he replied.

"And she left her camera?" Meg probed, she was still close with Veronica… she knew that Logan relished his days tormenting her friend.

"And her laptop… I was just on my way to return it to her" he explained awkwardly. She gave him a sceptical glare.

"Ok… well last I saw she was over by the Java Hut on the Pier near the Arcade.. you know how she feels about Starbucks" Meg informed him. _She had seen Veronica?_

"How long ago was this?" he said urgently, bolting upright.

"About 10 minutes ago?" Meg's sister suggested as she opened the door to her green mini.

"Did you see where she was heading?" Logan demanded.

"The arcade I think?" Meg told him.

"Thanks!" he called out as he hit the car into reverse and sped out of the car park towards the Neptune Beach Pier. He parked awkwardly and rushed from his car, scanning the faces in the crowd.. he wasn't really sure what the plan was here. It was a very public area along the pier.. but perhaps that could work for him? If she didn't feel threatened.. maybe this time she would hear him out?

 _"So you can kill me like you Killed Lilly?"_ her voice screamed at him again.

"Where are you Veronica?" he murmured.. searching for a specific blond petite girl in a beach town like Neptune was like finding a needle in a haystack.

No… she was smarter than this.. she and her dad made their living through blending in.. sinking into the background. She would know how to hide from him.

 _Why was he even thinking like this? It's not like was hunting her… he had no reason to chase her…_

If she had blended into the crowd, then she would be lost to him.. he envisioned her hiding out around the magazine stand in a cheesy tourist t shirt in a black baseball cap hiding her face behind a newspaper, watching his every move. Super Sleuth. She could be hiding out in the girls bathrooms? He thought before going and asking a petite red head girl if she would mind looking for his girlfriend inside as she was upset with him, he had shown her a picture of Veronica and waited desperately by the door… she hadn't been in there.

Why would she have come to the Pier? It was more than just running into a densely populated area.. the security guards on the Pier were notoriously useless, the area was rife with drugs and pickpockets and fat wallet naive tourists. The Neptune Subway platform over to the Stack and Pack where Wallace worked was on the opposite end of the Camelott Motel escape where she had fled from. Surely she would have gone to Wallace? He started to race through the decidedly small list of people he knew she bothered with at school.

 _Mac.. Meg.. Weevil and the PCHers… Wallace… that stoner kid Rory.._ he was still compiling his mental list when he saw her ahead of him, searching frantically through the slot machines and the giant teddy bears, the sounds of the arcade were deafening. She hadn't seen him yet… he followed her slowly, trying to close the distance between them, he was almost within arm's reach when she glanced over her shoulder and their eyes connected. _Don't run from me Mars…_ he ordered silently but she panicked and took off out of the arcade towards the fair ground, it was the summer festival and most of the pier had been turned into a static carnival complete with candy floss stalls, roller coasters and a fun house with mirrors.

"Veronica!" he called desperate to get her attention but it was too late, she bolted up the stairs into the mirror house, he stomped his foot on the ground and gritted his teeth. _Of all the bleeding places for her to hide and for him to have to follow her.. she had to pick the mirror maze? Sure.. because this isn't going to be like a cheesy horror movie moment at all?_ He thought in exasperation.

She was really starting to frustrate him. He climbed the metal stair case and followed her inside, jamming a piece of wood behind the door so no one else would be able to come in.

"Fee Fi Fo Fum Veronica…" He called theatrically as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out her taser. He would give it back to her… let her hold it against his throat if it made her feel safe enough to hear him out.

She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she crouched behind the mirror, he was getting closer. She hadn't been able to find Mateo Lobos.. he wasn't working tonight. Now she was locked in a glass cage with him, she could see several of him as his reflections darted around the mirrors as he looked for her. He twisted the taser in his hands. She did her best to hold her breath, to be small and invisible.

"Aren't you tired yet?" he offered. "Can't you just come out? Can't we just… go and get a coffee and talk about this?" he reasoned. He sounded exhausted. "Please Veronica… Hell… I'll even have coffee in the Sheriffs office and make it official if it would make you feel safer" he pleaded. "You are wrong Veronica…" he told her. "Do you hear me? You are wrong.. you know I didn't kill Lilly.. deep down… you know… because the only other person who loved her as much as I did… was you"


	4. Chapter 4

Eli "Weevil" Navarro asked the attendant at the Camelott Motel to repeat the description of the guy who had last been seen visiting Veronica's room. A rich white kid in an obnoxious yellow car. Logan Echolls he thought angrily.

It wasn't like the Mars girl to be so utterly terrified but she had called him up begging for him to swing by the Camelott Motel, she had needed to talk to him about something important. Now she was missing… and her tormenter, the asshole who had smashed up her car that day on the beach. Pretty Boy Logan Echolls had been the last one seen with her. Something about that bothered him. Usually Weevil didn't like to get involved in things outside his own club and his own neighbourhood, but he had a soft spot for the Former Sheriffs daughter. Veronica had spent many afternoons in the Sheriffs office waiting to go home with her father after school and Weevil was there on occasion being questioned for some random incident or petty theft. He respected Keith Mars, and he really liked his daughter. Veronica had gotten him and his boys out of more than a few scrapes.

He shared a knowing look with Felix and tried to call her cell phone again. He pounded on the door next to 21B and asked the older woman if she had seen or heard anything.

"Just some girl and her boyfriend having an argument" she snapped. "Why? Did he kill her or something? Because if there was a murder in the room next to mine, I want a refund" she complained.

Weevil frowned and buried his hands in his leather jacket, Thumper finished picking the lock to the Motel Suite, it looked like it had been trashed, signs of a struggle. There was an empty bottle of Pepper Spray laying on the floor and the bathroom door had been booted in.

"This doesn't look good Weevs" Felix declared as he pointed out the take out containers sitting unopened on the small table.

"Sheriff Mars is out of Town" Weevil told him. "Veronica is alone… I wanna know where she is" Weevil declared as he looked at the crowd of his guys on their bikes, they nodded in agreement.

"What about Echolls?" Hector asked.

"If anyone see's that jackass.. get some answers out of his Pretty 09r face" he instructed, a knot forming in his stomach as he walked down the stairs and reached for his own bike.

Meg Manning sat opposite her boyfriend Duncan Kane as she twisted a pieced of hair around her finger outside the bowling alley. She was worried about her encounter with Veronica earlier.. Logan could be so… vindictive sometimes and he relished in abusing Veronica. Not that she ever deserved it, she was one of the sweetest people that Meg had ever known, and yet, he delighted in his cruelty towards her. Picked on her and bullied her constantly… he stared at her so often that Meg had been sure it could have just been a crush until the day that Madison and Kaylie had flushed Veronica's clothes down the toilet at school after gym class at his insistence that she realised this was just another part of his sadistic games.

"Something the matter?" Duncan asked sweetly as he kissed her knuckles.

"Just… I saw Logan earlier… he was acting strangely…" she confessed.

"Strangely how?" Duncan queried as he reached for his coffee.

"He had all Veronica's stuff in his car… and when I saw Veronica earlier she looked pretty freaked out" Meg explained and watched as Duncan's face turned to that quiet distant look he usually got when someone mentioned Lilly or Veronica.

"You think he's bothering her?" Duncan asked, frowning.

"When is he ever not bothering her?" Meg told him and watched as Duncan got lost in his thoughts.

"I'm sure its nothing" he assured her.

"That's just it Duncan… I'm scared for Veronica this time.. that camera means a lot to her and I wouldn't feel right if we didn't at least make sure she was ok" she told him, squeezing his hand a little.

"You are a good person" he smiled and nodded. "Tell you what, I will give him a call right now and see what's going on" Duncan told her, reaching for his cell phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Veronica watched as Logan Echolls sank to the middle of the floor in the circled hall of mirrors. She was hiding behind one of the doors that had window behind the mirrored glass, she could watch his every move but he couldn't see her. _What was he doing?_ Her stomach rolled over and she felt her palms sweating. _It's a trick… he's playing games with me…_ her mind warned her.

 _"Oh come on Veronica! Logan?"_ Lilly's voice whispered to her. _"He's can be a bit of a jealous ass sometimes but he's a teddy bear, I can wrap him around my finger"_ she had giggled confidently. The memory of her dead friend's voice mocked her.

"Aren't you tired yet?" he offered. "Can't you just come out? Can't we just… go and get a coffee and talk about this?" he reasoned. He sounded exhausted. "Please Veronica… Hell… I'll even have coffee in the Sheriffs office and make it official if it would make you feel safer" he pleaded. "You are wrong Veronica…" he told her. "Do you hear me? You are wrong.. you know I didn't kill Lilly.. deep down… you know… because the only other person who loved her as much as I did… was you" he curled up with his head against his knees and began sobbing. He looked broken.

 _He's playing with you…. Be smart Veronica…_ she reminded herself but looking at him this way, seeing his tears, his unguarded grief, he didn't look like much of a threat. He looked like he needed someone to come to his rescue, to wrap themselves around him and chase all the nightmares away.

He threw something small and black away from himself, she frowned and tried as quietly as possible to stand a little taller to see what it was. Her taser.

"Please Veronica… Please" he cried, his voice was torn up… it sounded like he was in agony and she felt like a thousand daggers were being thrust into her chest and twisted. Her breath came in short, painful gasps that left her dizzy and nauseated. She didn't want it to be him.. but the facts were right there… he had lied about his movements that day. Lied to her father. _Why would he possibly have done that if he wasn't guilty? It didn't make any sense._

Tears began to fall down her face she wanted desperately to understand. It couldn't have been Logan.. she didn't want it to be Logan.

 _"I'll even have coffee in the Sheriff's office and make it official if it would make you feel safer" he had pleaded. Had he said that just to lure her out of hiding?_

They stayed like that for what felt like the longest time, he didn't make any attempts to move to find her, he just stayed there crouched up with his arms around his legs weeping. She had only caught glimpses of this side of him before, this naked grief and loss whenever he wasn't hiding all of his emotions behind a sarcastic comment or some witty remark, now here he was, his wounded soul.. just the shattered pieces of what was left behind of him after Lilly's death. She could have believed that the psychotic jackass who had isolated her from the people she had needed most and made her life hell for the last year was capable of murder… but that psychotic jackass looked nothing like this inconsolable shell in front of her, he began to rock slowly back and forth.

 _Was this the guilt of what he did finally catching up to him? Or was he right.. and she was wrong?_

Against her better judgement, she got slowly to her feet and slid the small mirrored panel away from the door, he barely even turned his head to look in her direction, he was still sobbing. He looked so defeated, she approached slowly but keeping a safe distance, circling him as she made her way towards the exit, snatching up her taser as she passed.

"Weevil's been calling" his voice was hoarse and quiet as he took her phone from his pocket and slid it along the floor towards her. She regarded him cautiously but she didn't reach for the phone at her feet just yet.

"Your stuff is in my car…" he sniffed finally making eye contact "we can call Sheriff Lamb and I'll wait in here if you want, I won't leave. Here's my keys" he told her as he tossed them to her.

"How do I know Dick and Cassidy aren't out there waiting in the wings to ambush me and leave me bound and gagged in the back of your car until you figure out what to do with me?" she said carefully, she wasn't quite leaving like she thought she would be.. _what was the protocol exactly for fleeing from someone you suspected of being a murderer?_

His face crumpled, speechless and he looked at the floor, she regretted her words immediately.

 _I had been so sure… what other explanation could there have been?_

She found herself moving before she realised exactly what she was doing, crouching down onto the floor beside him, she surprised them both because he gave her a confused look.

"You dragged me back into that Motel room…" she accused.

"You ran away without hearing me out…" he countered, his voice was a trace of huskiness and with a hint of complaint.

"You chased me halfway across town and locked us both in here…" she replied, her tone was coolly authoritative.

"And you gave me a face full of pepper spray…" he reminded her.

"You lied to me about being in Neptune the day Lilly died" she rasped defensively.

"And you accused me of murder…" he sighed, exasperated.

Even in a crisis it seemed they just couldn't stop their one-upmanship and verbal sparring, they were breathing fast, staring at each other dead locked in the centre of a kaleidoscope of their reflections. Both feeling on edge. His face was wet with tears, his eyes were red and starting to get puffy from the pepper spray. His lip was swollen, cut from when she had bitten him, she wasn't sure what compelled her to break their stalemate and reach out and run her thumb along his lower lip. He looked at her like she was something otherworldly, ethereal.

"I-I th-thought you th-thought that I-I" he swallowed.

"Not anymore" she interrupted softly, her blue eyes wide with sympathy, her tone was apologetic.

She was so close to him, her warm fingers wiping a tear from his cheek, assessing the damage, his eyes still burned; he just hadn't really noticed it in his panic to find her, now he could feel the sting.

"So now you believe me?" he sniffed, his eyes were liquid chocolate, large pools, hopeful, needing her faith in him, they poured into her and she realised she did. He looked so vulnerable, desperate, lifting his hand to entwine her fingers with his. She nodded softly. Something passed between them unspoken, that bond that they had both been denying, that wall of grief that they had wedged between themselves to survive this past year was gone. Their friendship was still there, buried underneath it all, fragile and battered, but they both realised that they were on the same side now. Lilly's killer was still out there.. and now maybe, just maybe now she had Logan on her side with other possible new leads from that day she would have a much better chance to get justice for her friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Duncan Kane had left his girlfriend Meg Manning in the Neptune Bowling Alley with her sister and Shelly Pomeroy as he walked along the carpark to the Neptune Pier, he walked passed the dancing monkey, the arcade. Thankfully Meg cared enough about Veronica to be understanding, she rarely got jealous, it was one of the things he liked about her.

There it was, Logan's bright yellow t bird, parked arrogantly between two lanes, empty. He strided over and looked in the window, no wonder his friend hadn't picked up, the blue light from the cell phone lit up the dashboard.. and there was Veronica's computer and camera on the passenger seat just like Meg had told him. He frowned angrily, reaching under the back wheel where he knew that Logan kept the spare in a magnetic key safe for emergencies. He was pissed, why couldn't Logan just leave Veronica alone? Memories of the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingertips pushed their way to the surface. He hated having to be reminded of her.. he had both lost and found her in the year since his mother had told him the truth of her parentage.

His mind flashed back to their stolen all night ride in the limo, their perfect night, Lilly and Logan, him and Veronica.

It hurt… having so recently lost a sister so tragically… to have another so close and be unable to acknowledge it because of what they had done together that night of Shelly Pomeroy's birthday party. He couldn't do that to her, as heartbroken as she was.. this scandal would destroy her. Lilly was already her dead best friend, he didn't want to let her known she had lost a sister as well.

He loved her, it wouldn't go away. Had his parents just been honest with him he wouldn't have pursued their relationship in their sophomore year, Lilly and Veronica could have been sisters, he could have kept her in his life.. he would still have her in his life now, they could grieve together as a family. Keith Mars had been so relentless in his pursuit of his father.. had it been out of jealousy because of his wife's Lianne Mars's affair with his dad? He had let a lot of Logan's behaviour go out of just trying to maintain some kind of tether with the world.. no one knew Lilly as well as Logan and Veronica had…. And if he hadn't been allowed to hold onto Veronica, then Logan was the last link he had left to his sister. But that had been before Shelleys Party, the memory of Veronica's body responding under him still haunted his dreams. He hid his shame behind anti-depressants and partying too much with all the wrong people, but Logan had over-stepped this time.

He may not be able to have Veronica in his life as his girlfriend anymore, but she was still his sister, even if she didn't know it and he would make this stop. He opened the car and picked up the laptop, signing in he tried her password, he smiled, it hadn't changed. Maraschinocherry180, her favourite to add into her ice-cream. It opened up onto her emails, and he briefly skimmed over the last few items in the inbox until he saw the one entitled Logan Killed Lilly Evidence she had sent to her father.

He felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

Logan Killed Lilly Evidence… there was an attachment.

 _What the hell was this?_

Keith Mars stared at the email again, his heart was thumping and a cold sweat broke out against his forehead. The words taunted him, helpless from the screen.

Dad,

I just got sent this by the Border Station, it confirms that Logan Echolls wasn't in Mexico during the day of the murder, he crossed back into the US at 8.24am and had plenty of time to be in Neptune, I looked through the files again, the Shot glass in her car? The inscription proves that he met up with Lilly that day. The shot glass is listed in the evidence list in the files in the closed file, I've sent you the scanned file. I know we can't move on this until you get back from Vegas with Cheyenne to prove Koontz lied in his confession otherwise Lamb won't do jack. Don't worry about me, I am going to be staying in the Camelott tonight, I'll call you about 10pm to check in. Hurry back. I love you.

Veronica.

His baby girl was alone in Neptune. 10.35pm and she still hadn't called him. He packed his stuff and he and Cheyenne headed down to the rental car, it would take him four hours to reach Neptune if he made good time. The Sheriffs Department weren't taking his concerns seriously, apparently since he couldn't confirm his daughter was missing and not out with friends as he wasn't actually in Neptune they wanted him to give it 48hours before they would even send a black and white out to the Camelott Motel. The desk clerk at the booking office confirmed that a petite blond teenager had checked in at 6.30pm and was later visited at about 8pm by someone matching Logan Echolls description, a quick google search had pulled up a paparazzi shot of Logan's car he had quickly run the plates through the database and called Vinnie Van Lowe, a business rival to track down the car. He hated Vinnie, but he knew the sleaze ball had a fondness for his daughter.

He called his best friend Cliff, his business partner and former college roommate to send him over to the office encase she was there. Still no answer from the house landline. He called Wallace to try and find out if he had any idea where she had gone. From this distance, there wasn't much he could do but burn asphalt up the high way back to Neptune as quickly as he could.

Duncan's mind was running the words of her email to her dad Keith Mars over and over.

 _He crossed back into the US at 8.24am and had plenty of time to be in Neptune…_

 _The Shot glass in her car? The inscription proves that he met up with Lilly that day. The shot glass is listed in the evidence list in the files in the closed file._

He was sweating, the coffee he had shared with Meg was rising up in his stomach, leaving a sick feeling in the back of his throat. He felt dizzy, like he was about to have an episode again. This happened when he was under extreme pressure and in periods of stress. The light from the computer made the world blur in front of him, he wanted desperately to remember that day… all he could recall from Lilly's death, was her leaving him off at soccer practise that morning after breakfast while she was in her usual bubbly high on life mood and then cut to three days later and he was in the limo being driven home from the funeral parlour.

 _Keith Mars had found evidence that Abel Koontz confession was false?_

 _Why would Logan have lied to him? Had his best friend killed his sister?_

 _Why did he have Veronica's computer?_ Duncan felt his blood run cold _. Did Logan know that Veronica knew about this?_

It would make sense though… he was always staring at her, always watching her, he seemed obsessed with whatever she was doing. He was always bringing her up in conversation… commenting on her activities… it was borderline stalking… was he trying to get information out of Duncan about her all those times?

He had pulled out his phone and dialled the Mars Investigations Office, there was no answer.

Duncan felt the car closing in on him, he could feel the blood in his face and it pounded in his head. He had left his medication in his car, how could he have been so stupid? The sounds of the carnival and the arcade came thundering around him. He was having a fit, he closed the laptop and slammed the door, heading towards a stall selling drinks and shoved a few dollar bills in the girls hand before ripping open a bottle of water. He knew he looked drunk or something when he was like this. He had to get it together, Logan and Veronica couldn't be far.

Meg had said Veronica had been running around the arcade alone looking upset about something a good 15 minutes before she had seen Logan in the Starbucks car park _. His sister was smart.. his sister… since when did he his mind associate Veronica and Sister in the same sentence?_ Hopefully that meant she'd had a head start… the problem was, how much of a head start did Logan have on him?

Weevil was curious as to why Veronica Mars, daughter of the former Sheriff Mars would have needed his help, she was ever his curiosity. She was clever, independent and resourceful. She took on most of the Neptune Seedy Underworld and handed it its arse, and he had to admit, she impressed him. He had a thing for her even though he wouldn't admit it. She had sounded frightened on the phone earlier, like scared for her life frightened and given that she was such good friends with his former girlfriend Lilly, he felt like he owed it to her somehow to take care of her friend. To protect her in the ways he hadn't been able to protect her. He owned the streets of Neptune when he and the PCH were out on their bikes, this was his town, and that pretty boy 09er Logan Echolls, was going to learn not to mess with those who Weevil Navarro considered to be one of his people.

He was heading back towards the 0909 area code passed the pier towards the Echolls house when he spotted that arrogant yellow trashy gas guzzler sitting abandoned in the car park, he saw Duncan Kane, Lilly's younger brother fall from the car gasping for air, disappearing into the crowd like he was going to be sick. He gave the signal to Felix and Hector to come up on his six as he pulled in beside it. Where had Duncan Kane gone? The attendant at the Camelott hadn't mentioned Logan being with anyone else at the time and he had been quite… explicit in getting all the details completely right or the PCHers would be making regular visits to the Motel for hush money.

He was just taking off his helmet when he saw Duncan stumbling back to the car, he was wearing the same look that he had imagined Veronica Mars had been wearing when she called him to come and meet her. Like someone had just ripped the foundations of his universe from under him.

"Where's Veronica?" Weevil questioned as he got off his bike and walked up to him, casting a cursory at the passenger seat in the car. Veronica's camera lay there like an abandoned toy, he wouldn't rough up Duncan Kane, he was Lilly's brother after all, and he was a pretty decent all round guy, for an 09er that was. He had no worries that Duncan would have let something happen to Veronica had he been around, their little romance during sophomore year was still something the freshmen girls loved to day dream about. That seemed to have been the magic question, because it snapped Duncan out of whatever haze he had been trapped in and brought him back to the present.

"I-I don't know…" he confessed regarding Weevil with sudden interest. "But I have to find her. I think she's in danger!" he told him.

"Danger how?" Weevil demanded, now he really was getting concerned for the blond teen detective.

"Logan… I think he killed Lilly… and he knows Veronica has figured it out" Duncan told him choking down panicked breaths.


	7. Chapter 7

Veronica Mars stared at their entwined fingers as Logan held her hand resting on his knee, he seemed just as engrossed but he was looking directly at her face, she felt naked somehow, exposed.

"You told your dad?" he sniffed and she nodded almost imperceptibly. He wouldn't have expected anything less he supposed, giving her a shy smile as she squeezed his hand tighter. He ran his free hand through his hair, a self-soothing gesture he had picked up in their freshman year she noted. She had only really picked up on its significance after his father, the movie star, Aaron Echolls had been injured one day on set during a particular dangerous stunt and the cables had come loose. Logan had been called to the counsellors office and she had realised he made that gesture when he was worried and scared. "Wait until he tells MY dad" Logan muttered bitterly, a look of fear flashed through his eyes that was far older than just her accusations, it was deeply encoded, there were too many layers to it for it to just have been the thought of having to be interrogated by the Sheriff's department. _Where had it come from?_

"No one else knows but my dad Logan, he will hear me out before he does anything if I tell him we need to wait first…" she promised, he swallowed hard and looked at her strangely for a moment, regarding her, weighing her words. She shivered under his scrutiny, the Fun House floor wasn't that warm when you were kneeling on it and she was only wearing a small green striped t-shirt and her skinny jeans. She was all too aware of her heartbeat pulsing like a jackhammer in her chest, their breaths were synchronising, lost in a circle of mirrors, thousands of possible versions of themselves sitting there baring witness.

He yanked her forwards and for a moment she instinctively reached for her taser until she found his hot mouth pressed against hers, his lips on her lips, his hand pressed against the side of her face. The first time he had kissed her less than an hour ago he had been trying to silence her screams for help, this time… this time felt different. She followed him as he pulled her forwards. It felt like a surge of heat rolling over them, pulling them together, fusing them into one being, it was awkward at first, then her shoulders relaxed and she melted into his embrace as they fell backwards. He trailed his hand down her back and gripped onto her waist, pulling her into his lap, straddling him, hungrily exploring her mouth with his. Her lips were soft and warm, she moaned a little as he reached his other hand up behind her head and deepened their kiss, it felt like he was trying to absorb all of her. He growled slightly as she shyly flicked her tongue in his mouth, she felt his hand grip against her thigh, tugging her close against him, a quiver ran up her spine and he pulled back for a few moments, pouring a thousand unspoken words into her with his eyes. Their breaths were ragged, her tongue still felt a tingle from where it had brushed up against his, he ran his hands over her shoulder and looked at her as if realising he had just manhandled her and asking for her permission to devour her lips again.

Not more than 10 minutes ago, she had been fleeing from him convinced he was a murderer… _now she was sucking his face?_ The taste of him was intoxicating, none of her kisses with her previous boyfriend Duncan Kane had ever left her this wild with need and desire. She wasn't sure if it was a heady combination of relief, reconnection or lust but buried her hands in his hair and pulled his face back towards her own. He moaned in pleasure, he felt like he was starving, gasping for air and the only place to find what he needed was against her lips. He didn't have time to analyse exactly what they were doing, he could only react to the feel of her body in his arms. How had he been existing all this time without her touch? It seemed so obvious to him now, how could he not have known he was missing out on something so vital, so critical to his centre of gravity? The pull of the petite blond woman in his arms. He had never felt such intense attraction, such a sudden sense of urgency to possess someone.

She pulled back gasping and he started to kiss along her neck, she was kneading at him, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he wanted her clothes off, he wanted her naked in his arms, wanted to feel her clench around him. He broke away from her panting and she gave a little cry in protest, missing his mouth on her neck. _What were they doing?_ He didn't want to stop, his body was insane with craving more of her skin against his. She shivered and he realised she was cold, he rubbed his hands along her arms to try and warm her a little, his hands were so strong, her mind struggled to form words, it was just an incoherent noise of bliss and want. This wasn't just kissing it was passionate, press-you-up-against-the-wall, I-want-to-crawl-inside-of-your-skin-and-devour-your-soul kisses. He looked into her blue eyes and saw the large dilated pupils, the flush in her cheeks, swollen lips from his kisses. He had been thinking about her looking at him this way for months, if he was honest with himself, he spent most of his time daydreaming in his classes about her pressing that smart mouth of hers to his. Hating her for seeming so inaccessible, for being so right in front of him, haunting his dreams, keeping him transfixed. He felt guilty, he felt relieved, he felt grateful.. for the first time in a long time he truly felt alive, connected to another person.

"You're shaking" he told her, he didn't really want to stop their little make-out session, he wanted to let his hands travel under her shirt, discover those tempting inches along her collar bone with his kisses, his fingers played with the lapel on her polo shirt.

"You're stopping…" she breathed, her eyes imploring him to continue, urging him on.

"This is… so…" he rasped. _This is so crazy? complicated? So such a betrayal of Lilly's Memory? So not what he should be doing with a girl who had threatened to call the Sheriff on him?_ "What are… we…?" he tried to reason but he couldn't finish the thought with the heat of her pressed so close to where he was straining against his trousers. _What are we doing? This wasn't something they should be doing.. but it was exactly where he had needed her to be? Not moving along quickly enough because he wanted to make love to her?_

"We are simplifying it…" she declared cupping his face in her hands and kissing him, ignoring the phone behind them as it vibrated on the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you mean you think Logan Echolls killed Lilly?" Weevil Navarro demanded as he grabbed hold of Duncan Kanes Ralph Lauren shirt and hauled him closer. "Why the hell would Veronica think something like that?" he continued.

"She found something.. information on Logan.. now I don't know where he is and all her stuff is in his car" Duncan exclaimed, his hand gripped around Weevil's wrist and pulled himself free, pointing towards Logan's car, indicating the petite blondes familiar camera and laptop. His voice was urgent, distracted.

"She was in the Camelott Motel earlier.. called me for some help, by the time me and my boys got there, she was missing and it looked like there had been a struggle" Weevil informed him coolly, his gaze shifting from Duncan, Veronica's pretty 09er ex-boyfriend to Felix and Hector. The news seemed to alarm Duncan and his eyes widened.

"Meg saw Veronica in Java earlier, heading towards the arcade she said she looked pretty freaked out" Duncan explained. "She saw Logan in Starbucks about 20 minutes ago, he was looking for her… and he had all her stuff… her cell phone won't pick up and I can't get a hold of Keith Mars" Duncan told him, showing him the call history from his phone.

"Sheriff Mars is in Vega's" Felix declared and Weevil nodded in agreement.

"That's why she called us" Weevil divulged.

"Mateo works in the Arcade" Hector suggested and understanding passed between them.

"She couldn't make a call, if he got her computer, he probably got her cell phone.. it looks like she had taken off out of the fire escape from the Motel room when we had gotten there" Weevil said, his voice was thick with anger. "She came here to get help" he punched the side of the car.

"Except Mateo doesn't work Tuesdays" Hector explained.

"Veronica probably doesn't know that" Felix elaborated, Mateo was his younger cousin.

"Then she is probably still looking, we should start there" Duncan suggested. A look passed between Weevil and the rest of the PCHers and they regarded Duncan cautiously.

"I'm sure we got it from here" Thumper dissed.

"Hey – no way! I may not be dating her anymore, but I still care about Veronica… and if she's right and he killed my sister, I need to get her away from him as soon as possible" Duncan countered, Weevil weighed his words and noted the stubborn tone in his voice, homeboy was determined, they might as well team up since they had a similar goal.

He nodded in agreement. "One more body cant hurt, just as long as it doesn't end up being hers… let's split up, search everywhere" he instructed. "You think you could get Meg to search the ladies bathrooms?" he asked Duncan.

"She's back at the Neptune Bowling Alley with her sister and Shelley" Duncan said shaking his head. It would take too much time for them to get there, and that would be wasting time. Time he needed to be looking for Veronica and Logan.

"Alright, alright… we have one of the attendants do it, let's get going.. he's already had too long a head start on this and I don't want him finding Veronica first" Weevil decided, nodding to the rest of his guys that they should split up. Duncan fell into step beside him as the two men started to search around the stands, both quiet, he glanced at the Kane boy, he was similar in colouring to Lilly, same colour of eyes, same shade of hair, the same shape of nose. It made something ache inside him. _Lilly…_ their affair that summer had been the only time Weevil had ever felt something that close to love, he had her name tattooed on his left shoulder, right in the spot where the heart was most vulnerable to a blade. Then Logan Echolls had clicked his fingers and she had gone running back to that 09er Surfer boy… he had never imagined for a second it had been what could have gotten her killed.

That Abel Koontz guy had had her stuff in his house boat, it had been all over the news.. the guy had confessed… probably paid to confess by Logan Echolls. His fists curled so tightly until he was sure the nails would break the skin, Echolls would pay for this. _These rich boys thought they could get away with anything._ Logan Echolls would never see the inside of a court room.. and if he had hurt Veronica before Weevil got there? Well then he and his boys would make sure it took a while.

"You said Veronica found information on Logan, what kind of information?" Weevil asked as they walked passed the slot machines and searched near the air hockey tables. It was crowded.

"That he wasn't really in TJ the day she died. There's time stamped pictures of him crossing back over the border the morning of the day she was killed.. and some kind of shot glass" Duncan answered, he was distracted, scanning every face, looking for that familiar sandy brown hair cut, or Veronica's petite blond bob, she was wearing a green and white striped t shirt today… that he remembered. Green and white… like the pep squad outfit Lilly had worn on the last day of her life. He shook the thoughts away, he couldn't entertain that idea right now. Not when she was so close, not when he couldn't be sure if Logan had found her or not. This couldn't be happening to him again.

"Shot glass?" Weevil repeated, remembering the crime scene photos that Keith Mars had been shoving into his face during his interrogations those first few weeks of the investigation into Lilly Kane's murder. It had been among one of the items that Keith had mentioned as a possible link to him, as if all Latina's were Mexican. "I remember it… from the pictures the old Sheriff showed me" he nodded.

"I can't see her anywhere…" Duncan told him, worry building in his voice. "If he's really to blame… then she could.. he could've…." He was starting to panic again, he was struggling to keep it together.

Weevil regarded the Kane boy seriously, he was very shaken, like there was a horror movie playing in his head and he couldn't turn it off. He hadn't even thought he had any feelings left for Veronica, their break up had been pretty cold. Duncan had barely spoken more than a handful of sentences to the Mars girl in the entire year since his sister had been murdered. Now he looked like the thought of losing her was going to have a complete meltdown.

"Relax… we don't know anything for reals yet, she's a smart girl, I'm sure she's running half way to the Sheriff's department by now" Weevil comforted him. "Let's check out on the boardwalk" he said hinting towards the main summer carnival ground.

"If he's hurt her.. I swear to God…." Duncan growled.

"You and me Both, only my solution will be a lot more permanent than just calling the Sheriff" Weevil nodded in agreement, as he dialled her number again.

 _"Hi.. This is Veronica, I can't take your call right now, leave me a message and we will fix your crisis when I get back to you"_ her voice was breezy and sarcastic.

Still no answer.

Keith Mars gripped the steering wheel and continued to push the accelerator to the floor, the headlights piercing the black road ahead of him. Thirty four torturous minutes of trying to contact Veronica. He had tried calling on the off chance she would answer this time, but kept getting his daughters voicemail. He dialled Vinnie Van Lowe's number again.

"What's the status?" he asked quickly as Vinnie answered the phone.

"Well, I found your daughters car, it's been clamped at the school car parking lot, so she couldn't have gotten too far. Reservations confirmed in the Camelott Motel for a Ms Nancy Drew, matches Veronica's description. Cliff called, she's not in your house. I did a trace on her bank account, no activity other than take-out from some Asian fusion place Kings Garden, over on Serena Drive at 8.02pm" Vinnie told him.

"You are tracking her card?" Keith queried.

"Yeah, I got a guy, smart girl, leaving a timeline like that. According to a Mr Clemmons at the school, she didn't show up for some after school assignment" Vinnie explained.

"You talked to Mr Clemmons?" Keith repeated, irritation growing at the lack of good progress.

"Yeah, just left his house" Vinnie confirmed, his easy going tone was rubbing Keith up the wrong way.

"What about the Echolls kid?" Keith demanded.

"I need to go to the bathroom soon, I know, I'm sorry its bad time, but I'm not going to last another 3 hours in this car" Cheyenne whispered to Keith. She was his best piece of evidence, the real Abel Koontz alibi for the night Lilly Kane had been murdered, the elusive statement he had needed for this past year before his life had fallen apart, he had lost his job as Sheriff and his wife had left him. Now he was furious with himself for having been so keen on pursuing Jake Kane, he had been sure they had been the ones to pay off Abel Koontz, but perhaps he should have torn apart the boyfriends story more. He had been so blinded by his faith that he was going after the right guy, and that blindness, that stubbornness could very well be putting his daughters life in danger.

"I checked in with a security pal of mine over on 0909, the kid didn't pass back through the gate tonight. I'm going to check the usual 09er Progeny haunts soon, see if I can spot the car. Swinging by the Camelott in the next 15 to check out the room. I know some of the girls who frequent there, I'm going to ask around" Vinnie continued. "We are going to find her Keith, that's one spunky girl you got there, she knows how to take care of herself" he comforted solemnly, breaking out of his usual playboy attitude to sound serious.

Keith gripped the wheel tighter, he knew he was over-reacting slightly but this just wasn't like Veronica not to answer his calls.

"Thanks Vinnie, I appreciate what you are doing… just call me with an update when you find out anything more. I'll be there in another 2 and half hours" he sighed, hanging up.

"I'm really sorry… but I still need to…" Cheyenne said sympathetically. He looked ahead at the sat nav, the next trucker stop was 5 minutes ahead and nodded. He needed more gas anyway, but the delay was causing something in his gut to coil, something was going down… and he was too far away to be there to help his baby girl.


	9. Chapter 9

_The Angel of Mercy.._ Logan thought as he put his hands around Veronica's hips and felt her writhe against him, he couldn't stop touching her, their mouths exploring each other. His lips hurt slightly from where she had bitten him, but the taste of her was driving him crazy, she was so sweet. She moaned happily as he cupped her ass and squeezed it, pulling her closer to him. He was so turned on right now and they were fully clothed, it could be a heady combination of the heightened emotions from that night, her sexy sighs as he kissed her neck or his final surrender to admit to himself that he had always been a little crazy about this girl, ever since that first day he had seen her running around her yard with Lilly in her soccer uniform and knee socks.

 _God he would love her to be wearing nothing but knee socks right now…_

The thought sent his hormones into overload, he wanted to be so much closer to her than this, curled up on the floor of the mirror fun house at the carnival, he had wedged the door shut with a piece of wood to stop people from following them inside, he hadn't wanted anyone around to eavesdrop on their conversation, particularly not one where he was trying to convince her he wasn't a murderer, it had had the fortunate side effect of ensuring their privacy before their encounter had erupted into one of the most intense make-out sessions of his life. _What was this?_ He still couldn't reel his mind in to process the events of the last few hours, his watch beeped, he glanced at the time over her shoulder between kisses. 11pm. The carnival and fun house would be closing soon, they couldn't stay there much longer, he wasn't sure how much time had passed since they had left her Motel room and ended up here. _Her Motel Room, what he wouldn't give to be there now…_ the thought of it made him moan helplessly against her mouth.

Her phone buzzed again, the battery chirp protested low power, it was distracting and they both looked in the direction of the small device moving slightly around the floor. He had no idea how long they had been sitting there with her straddling him both lost in the intensity of need, pulling at each other's clothes, he smoothed her hair behind her ear and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. They should probably take a break, cool down, get her someplace warm, talk some more. He gave her a shy smile, nodding in the direction of the phone. She should probably answer that, and he should probably think about getting her some real food. He had interrupted her take out when he had shown up pounding on her door, as much as he wanted to believe he could just stay there and survive on the scent of her and her kisses. He wanted to take care of her.

Veronica could feel him hard and eager against her pelvis, she felt his struggle as he pulled away from her mouth, trying to tame his arousal. Her body felt like it was molten, she was burning to be closer to him. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, his shoulder muscles rippled under her hands, she hadn't noticed how sexy he was before, she had rarely given him much thought when most of her thoughts had been consumed with pining for Duncan, it had been a definite oversight.

She rested her head against his, both of them staring into each other's eyes, waiting for the heavy breathing to slow and their racing pulses to return to normal. He swallowed hard. _How could she ever have imagined that the hands on her waist, cradling her body to his so tenderly right now, could have been capable of killing someone?_

"Logan…" she whispered, trailing her fingers along the back of his neck and up into his hair. The burning look in his eyes as she said his name was the very definition of Swoon. He lost control again and kissed her passionately, she whimpered slightly and he gasped, pulling away from her gain. _How could they get so worked up just from kissing?_ It was like her body recognised his on a level her conscious brain couldn't process. _This must be what chemistry feels like…_ she mused. Her phone buzzed again, it was her dad's personalised ringtone this time, Lethal Weapons theme tune from the original movie started to fill the room. It galvanized her into action, _what time was it?_ She had to talk to her father… she pushed her amorous sparring partner away and unwrapped herself from him. He looked disappointed, his arms followed her until she almost crab crawled backwards away, she reached for the phone, it chirped again and then it faded to a black dead screen. Power was drained. She looked back at him and he gave her an embarrassed, shy apologetic smile, her charger was still in the wall of her Motel suite in the Camelott Motel. _Since when was Logan shy or embarrassed?_

She pursed her lips together and slid the phone into her back pocket, it felt wrong to be so disconnected from him but now she had had time to gain a bit of distance. It felt strange to be standing in the circle of mirrors, thousands of alternate versions of themselves spinning around them, so many different ways this night could have played out. He approached her slowly, reaching down beside her to pick up his car keys.

"I have a charger in my car.." he offered cautiously. They may just narrowly avoided having sex just now, but there was still the slight possibility that he was guilty, he wasn't innocent beyond all reasonable doubt, he had still lied. They may just have spent the last half hour or so blissfully entwined but she still wasn't ready to trust him completely. He must have sensed it, because he shifted uncomfortably, holding out the keys to her again. There he went again, leaving it all up to her decision. _Would a guilty man do something like that? Leave his fate in her hands?_

"I need to call my dad" she told him softly.

"Okay" he nodded in agreement, his voice was small, he stepped closer to her and kissed her on the forehead, putting the keys in her hand. _Was this the same person who had man-handled her into a Motel room earlier this evening?_

 _Your paranoia skills suck Mars!_ Veronica scolded herself. She knew paranoia was a very healthy emotion when it counted, it could keep you alive but right now, her mind was clouded, she still felt dizzy having him so near to her.

She almost didn't want to leave, it felt safe in there, it made sense, just the two of them, no dead friends, no murder investigations, no corrupt Sheriff Departments, no ex-boyfriends, no 09ers, no PCH biker club… it was simple, and outside that door she was going to have to deal with the grenade she had just told her dad to throw at Logan's life.

"Hey- what's going on in there?" a girls voice called, irritated. "We are closed!" she grumbled, banging on the door.

"We should get out of here" Logan suggested.

"Yeah, good idea" Veronica agreed as she picked up her taser and straightened her t-shirt. They both worked their way out of the maze and made their way out the back entrance, much to the disgust of a short brunette girl in a blue staff t shirt.

"Eww.. gross.. looks like we need to hose the place down again… dirty fuckers" Daisy muttered under her breath as she watched the petite blond and the tall guy leave looking rather awkward. She hated it when people did the nasty in the fun house, what was it with peoples obsession of wanting to watch themselves from every angle? Kinky bastards. The carnival wouldn't let out for another half hour but it almost took that long to get the cleaning done, it had been a slow night anyways. She hated mid-week shifts, it always attracted horny teenagers trying to find some alone place away from their parents. She just prayed that they hadn't left condoms stuck to the ceiling this time. She pulled the wooden wedge out of the entrance door and shook her head, grabbing the anti-bacterial window cleaner spray and propping the door open with the fire extinguisher, her boss hated it when she did that, safety violation apparently but the prick also only paid $4.50 an hour and stiffed her on the tips, so screw him. She was just pulling out her window squidgy when two guys walked up behind her.

"Dude, can't you see the sign?" she growled, pointing at the closed notice.

"Just hoping you could help us with something, see our friends missing, and we are asking around if anyone's seen her" Weevil explained as Duncan flicked through his pictures and showed her the photo of Veronica.

"Have you seen this girl?" Duncan asked. He was just glad that Meg had driven herself tonight, he was going to be in so much trouble when he saw her tomorrow, he had totally flaked on their date, and his mother had called him twice, he told her he was staying at Logan's just to get her off his back. He only hoped that she didn't call the Echolls directly.

Daisy looked at the two guys and frowned, one was a yacht club pretty boy and the other was gangbanger from the PCH, she recognised his leather jacket. Certainly not the kind of guys you expected to be spending time together. _Oh god… was this a drugs thing? Had someone stashed another pick up in her Mirror House? She did not want to have to deal with that asshole Lamb again this week._ She hated mid-week shifts!

Weighing her options she realised these two were not going away. She stared at the picture, sure enough, it was that blond chick from earlier. Skank.

"She was here, about 10 minutes ago, left with some guy" she confirmed dismissively.

"Was she ok? Did you see what way they went?" Duncan asked eagerly, it was the first confirmation they had had that Veronica had been seen.

"This guy, can you describe him?" Weevil demanded. Daisy regarded the two boys and pointed at Duncan.

"They were all over each other, he looked kinda like him, but leaner? Brown hair, pukka shells?" she sighed. Both the boys regarded each other seriously. She hated being involved in other peoples drama, blondie must have been one of their girlfriends because these guys looked ready to kill something. "They left out the back entrance, it lets you out down those steps along to the beach" she explained, before lifting the fire extinguisher and closing the door.

"He's found her" Duncan choked, now he was really worried. They should call the Sheriff's Department.

"No, we found him, and now we know where he is. Let's get someone back to the car before he decides to take off, we need to get down to that beach, Veronica was here, alive 10 minutes ago and I intend to keep her that way." Weevil declared as he sent a text to Thumper and Felix to get back to the car and strode took off towards the beach, the crowd on the boardwalk was thick and it was taking longer than he liked to find the exit. He didn't spend much time around this part of town but Duncan seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"We should call the Sheriff" Duncan told him.

"The Sheriff? That asshole doesn't do shit.. no, we are gonna handle this my way" Weevil retorted, pulling out some brass knuckles, he thought for a second Duncan was going to protest, but his jaw hardened and he regarded him carefully.

"Alright, I'm in" Duncan replied. Logan had already killed one of his sisters, he would do whatever it took to protect the one he had left.


	10. Chapter 10

Deputy Leo D'amato just finished off his coffee and flicked over the latest issue of the Neptune Navigator, you would think he would have moved on from reading the local high school paper but the articles were often funny, sarcastic and it kept him up to date with scores on the local football games. He supported the local team, the Pirates were a great bunch of kids, he ended up at parties with them sometimes. Tuesday nights were usually slow in the Sheriffs department and he was stuck on the phones, the zombie shift as he liked to call it. He contemplated taking up doing the crosswords just to make the nights go in that much faster, but he had seen the addiction that had become for Inga and Sacks, so he decided to skip that part just yet, he needed to leave something to aspire to when he made detective he mused.

 _Ring Ring_

The phone had not rang much tonight, so it took him a moment to realise it needed answered.

"Hello, Sheriffs Department" Leo asked.

"Hi, this is Keith Mars, I need someone available to pick up a key witness in the Lilly Kane murder case, it's a closed file but new evidence has come up. I need someone to take a witness statement as soon as possible, and a black and white to get to track down a car, I have the license plate here" the voice answered in a hurry.

"Mars, as in Former Sheriff Mars?" Leo asked.

"Yes, now do you have a pen?" Keith demanded.

"I do, Mr Mars unfortunately most of the department is out breaking up a party on Nereids Point, down on the beach near the pier" he apologised, he hated how understaffed and inefficient the department he worked for was.

"I understand that, I know you are thin on the ground, but this is an emergency, I have boots on the ground but they need to locate this car, there's a life at stake" Keith told him urgently.

"A life at stake?" Leo repeated, the voice on the other side of the phone sounded deeply stressed.

"Yes, my daughters, you know my daughter, Veronica?" Keith explained, he knew Veronica had sweet talked this deputy at some point when she had needed to make a video tape disappear for that kid Wallace.

"Ah, yes, I think I do remember her" Leo said, visions of a petite blond pizza offering goddess fluttered into his mind. "How can I help Sheriff?" he asked, clicking his pen ready for the license plate.

"Logan Echolls, license plate EHY 9786" Keith explained. "I need the vehicle located and an alert put out to take him into custody as soon as possible, and I need that information to be shared with Vinnie Van Lowe. I should be back in Neptune in about 2 hours" Keith continued.

"Back in Neptune?" Leo questioned.

"Yes, I am bringing in a witness, who will need to be put someplace safe, I don't care if you have to call the Chief County Office for this, you get the men that you need" Keith declared.

"I'll do what I can Keith" Leo promised.

"I know you will" Mr Mars replied before hanging up.

Leo ran the license plate into the cctv system and ran a search, flicking through his desk for those Vinnie Van Lowe cheesy pens he always left in the office when he brought in a bail jumper. It took several minutes but it finally flagged up, Neptune Plaza Pier Car Park, not too far away from Nereids point. He texted the update to Vinnie Van Lowe and called Sheriff Lamb.

"Why you calling me Numb nuts? Don't I give you enough Desk Duty, you have disturb my nights off?" Lamb complained as he answered, he was currently enjoying the delightful company of a young lady from the Neptune Grand Bar in her hotel suite. _Didn't he employ these people so he didn't have to work after 5pm?_

"There was just a call in from Keith Mars?" Leo explained.

"And?" Lamb snapped.

"He said he needs someone to take a witness statement about the Lilly Kane murder?" Leo told him.

"The Lilly Kane murder? That's a closed case… what the hell kind of witness could he have about this?" Lamb demanded, his mood was now ruined. _The Lilly Kane case, the case that had made him Sheriff and ousted that idiot Mars from office last year, and he was still digging into it? He had to hand it to the guy, he was obsessed. Commited, he should BE commited._ Lamb thought.

"He didn't say" Leo told him, regretting even mentioning it now.

"Alright, I'm coming in, anything else?" Lamb demanded.

"Just a location a car" he replied.

"A location on a car? Whose Car?" Lamb snapped.

"Logan Echolls" Leo told him.

"Echolls, as in Aaron Echolls son? As in Movie Star, Neptune Elite, Mayor Campaign Financing Contributing Echolls?" Lamb shouted. This night was getting worse, last thing he wanted was the Mayor on his back and the Kanes. _Why couldn't Keith Mars just move out of town?_

"Yes Sheriff" Leo replied.

"Ok, track the car, and then send a car, last thing we want is Keith Mars harassing the fine people of Neptune's 0909" Lamb snorted before hanging up.

"What a prick" Leo muttered, putting the phone back down on the stand.

Vinnie Van Lowe looked at the text from Leo, he owed that guy a box of donuts, he smiled. Ok, Teenage Kids and Beach. No Brainer really, although, if he hadn't seen the state of the Camelott Motel, he would have thought that strict ethical do gooder Keith Mars was be overreacting for nothing.

He finished the hot dog he was holding and headed towards the bonfires lit on the beach, there were lots of teenagers here but he had a good idea of what he was looking for. Veronica was smart, she would hide where there were plenty of people. If this Echolls kid was looking for her, he wouldn't risk hurting her here, he brought his side arm along just encase, you never knew the kinds of ways situations like these could evolve.


	11. Chapter 11

Logan Echolls waited as Veronica finished coming down the pier staircase onto the beach and he fell into step beside her as they walked along the sand, it was dark and the path ahead of them was lit by flaming torches and a giant bonfire. His lips still tingled from their kisses; he looked along the shore line, the freezing cold water, the smell of the salt coming in on the breeze, the sound of music from the rave a little further up ahead of them, it was cold, he glanced at her as she shivered, he took off his jacket and offered it to her, she nodded carefully and he wrapped it around her shoulders. _Perhaps the night air could help him cool down a little?_

The moon was full tonight, and it lit her usually golden hair into silver strands, her luminescent skin glowed in the light of it, her lips were so tempting. He stepped closer, cupping her face, lowering his head to kiss her again. He just couldn't keep his hands off her, capturing her mouth with his, he pulled her to him. If she was a drug, he was getting hooked. He wanted to pick her up, hold her against him, press them against the pillar of the pier behind them. It was like someone had ignited an electrical spark between them, now he was burning for her. He got lost in the taste of her, it felt like he was truly breathing again for the first time since Lilly had died. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to try and pull apart all the drama surrounding them, and he wanted her, just her.

Everything was about to turn into interrogation rooms, press calls, lawyers… conversations with his parents about his whereabouts that day, legal defences, he didn't want to think about it. He wanted to wrap himself up in her, in this haven he had found in her arms, think about how compatible their bodies could be right here in the sand. In one way or another, even when he had been at his worst tormenting her, she was his favourite place his mind went when he searched for peace. They were drawn together in a way neither had experienced before, their lips colliding felt like something deep inside him was screaming _finally…_

Veronica moaned as he explored her mouth with his tongue, grasping her to him so tightly she wasn't sure if he was absorbing her or she was melting into him. Her hands reached out and gripped his t shirt, clinging to him. _7 billion mouths in the world, and this one was her favourite?_

He whimpered as she broke away, stepping backwards to catch her breath.

"There's a pay phone at the end of the beach" Veronica told him, it was a good thing she had her father's number memorised. _Deafening reality…_ he sighed miserably.

"Right, I forgot, we have to go cancel some distress beacons or something" he nodded stepping back, his honey brown eyes melting into her. "Damn, I want to kiss you.." he breathed heavily, rubbing his hand through his hair.

"He's going to be freaking out" she reasoned. Pulling her arms into the sleeve's, she looked so small in the oversized jacket. She looked adorable.. he wished they were just walking her home after a date, not discussing having to convince her dad he wasn't a murderer.

"Yeah… I imagine he is releasing the winged monkeys and amassing armies as we speak" he retorted mockingly, falling into step beside her.

"Face that launched a thousand ships" she joked, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, well I guess if we don't get to that pay phone soon, I'll have to be launching my dad's boat off to someplace with no extradition laws" he countered.

"He'll listen to me" she reassured him.

"I hope so" his voice was choked, emotional. Seems like whatever had held back that tide of panic had disappeared, and he was back to adrenaline fuelled fight-or-flight. She reached out her hand and gave his a little squeeze.

"He will" Veronica promised.

"Look Veronica… I am so sorry.. For everything…. For this whole past year.." he sniffed, stopping and looking at her earnestly. "For not protecting Lilly" he cried, the weight of his decisions pressing down on his thoughts.

"I don't blame you Logan, I never blamed you…" she told him honestly as he blinked away tears. "I blame whoever killed her" her tone was firm.

"You got any idea who that is?" Logan asked softly.

"Not Abel Koontz, that part I know" she explained. He played with her hand in his for a moment before Logan regarded her carefully, she was fierce, loyal, extraordinary, and remarkable, she had a quiet confidence that came from the strength of backbone that gave her beauty an edge. She had been sweet and naïve when she had dated Duncan, but now he realised he barely knew her at all. He just knew that he loved her, she captivated him. She felt her pulse quicken, whatever was going through his mind was making her feel nude, exposed. He looked like he was going to close the distance between them again and kiss her, instead he tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Just do me a favour, don't sugar-coat anything" he replied. "Things are going to get very ugly" he told her simply.

Vinnie Van Lowe dodged a few drunk sorority girls trying to get his attention to buy them a drink after the bartender had rejected their fake ID's and walked towards the south staircase that leads up to the arcade, it was a short cut he knew well from his surveillance work, she hadn't been seen by any of the bartenders or the security staff at the pop up bar on the beach. So that meant he could rule out her being too far away, he had looked through the footage on his phone of the main gate to the Neptune Plaza his friend Lionel Berdsom had sent him of all the access points into the Plaza gates for the last hour, surely enough, it showed her entering into the Java the Hut and exiting into the arcade forty five minutes ago. This would be the quickest way for him to get to the arcade from where he had parked his van; he knew from Leo's text that the car for that Echolls kid was in the area as well.

He gripped the end of his holster and gritted his teeth as he looked at the footage showing the Echolls kid, who he recognised from those Bum Fight videos passing through the gate about 13 minutes later. He watched as the scene played out, Veronica fleeing through the arcade frantically, no phone, no bag, only to be spotted within moments by Echolls when he arrived. She was followed and then chased into the Carnival area. That's where the videos stopped. _Damn, he could be too late_ he thought. He might have been a bit of laid back jerk sometimes, but if there was something he hated more than anything, it was assholes that preyed on beautiful young girls. He had often overstepped during his surveillance and beaten up the odd wife abuser, lost a few cases because of it. He liked Veronica, his mother liked her. When they competed on opposite ends of cases occasionally, she usually sent over a box of some homemade cookies, they weren't great but he liked the friendly rivalry. It made him think of her as an extension of his little Neptune Tribe.

He grabbed his phone and scrolled through the names, he needed eyes inside, finding the name he was looking for he called her number.

"Hello?" a pissed off female voice answered.

"Daisy Chain!" Vinnie chirped.

"What do you want Vinnie?" she demanded.

"I need some help, can you check out this picture I sent you and tell me if you have seen this girl?" Vinnie asked her.

"Hold on.." she drolled, he heard a series of beeps like she was scrolling through her phone. "Again?" she muttered. _Was this going to be a theme?_

"What you know something?" Vinnie exclaimed, he usually paid Daisy for bits of info, or placing cameras about the place if he needed them.

"Yeah.. I saw her getting frolicsome in the fun house" Daisy replied sarcastically.

"WHEN?!" Vinnie demanded. It wasn't like him to be so rude, she frowned.

"Look, I don't think you are going to want to get involved in this one Vin, PCHers, and her boyfriend was already here" she explained. "Definitely cheating"

"Her boyfriend? No, it's not a case. She's the daughter of a friend. There's someone stalking her" Vinnie explained, sending the link to the clip of Logan.

"That guy?" she said incredulously after a few moments.

"YES, when did you last see her?" Vinnie demanded, running towards the Plaza staircase.

"About 15 minutes ago, there were some guys here just asking for the same girl" Daisy explained.

"Any of them the guy in the picture?" he asked.

"Yeah, but no… he was the one she was getting it on with in the Fun House" Daisy continued.

"What?" Vinnie demanded.

"Adam and Eve style, they were all over each other, I practically had to break the back door open to get in and kick them out" she clarified. Vinnie wanted to reach down the phone and shake her. Logan had found Veronica… she had been alone locked in a room with him.

"Where did they go?" he asked, taking a deep breath. He loved her bitchiness cynical attitude usually, but right now it was grating on him.

"Down to the beach rave, there was this biker dude and surfer boy showed up looking for her about 5 minutes ago" she told him. "Anything else?" she sighed.

"No, thanks Daize" Vinnie answered, hanging up.

 _They were on the beach? Biker dude and surfer boy showed up looking for her? The biker's were likely those PCH kids who the attendant at the Camelott had mentioned. What have you gotten yourself into Veronica?_

They couldn't be that far from where he was now, but if they had left from the Fun House, they would be at the east staircase, not the south. He quickly pocketed his cell phone and changed direction towards the shoreline.


	12. Chapter 12

Deputy Ryan's watched as that Vinnie Van Lowe guy took off running across the beach, he nudged his colleague Briar's arm nodded in the direction. They had been told to stop packing up the underage 09er kids kegs by an irate Sheriff Lamb and told to be on the lookout for the Echolls kid. Apparently there had been some kind of threat or something against the family?

*Dispatch* called a voice over the radio and he stepped away from the speaker blasting Feel This Moment by Pitbull ft Christina Aguilera in his ear.

*Ryans, go Dispatch* he responded.

*10.23. PCHers found with the Echolls car. No sign of the owner of the vehicle, two arrests*

*Ok, dispatch, no sign down here on the Point, you want us to search the arcade?* he asked as he checked out a pretty red head girl wearing some very short, low rise denim shorts.

*Negative, just be on the lookout for any more of the Club* the voice instructed.

*Confirmed* he sighed and looked at Briar.

"You think that Van Lowe guy knows something?" Ryan's queried absently.

"Nah, probably just racing to get more snaps for his dirty pictures collection" Briar snorted and indicated that he should pick up the other end of the keg _. Free Beer. The good stuff_. _Best Perks of the job._ Ryans thought happily and put it into the back of his car.

Duncan Kane followed Weevil Navarro down the staircase, there wasn't much light down there, but the shine of moonlight on blond hair was unmistakable.

He was more athletic than Weevil, so jumped over the railing and skipped the last few steps, throwing himself across the sand towards the two figures standing on the beach. From his distance, he saw what looked like a familiar Logan outline grabbing the petite figure by the head, he was too far away to hear their conversation, but when he was in ear shot he heard his best friends voice clearly.

"Not Abel Koontz, that part I know" her voice said, and it looked like Logan had grabbed her arm.

"Just do me a favour, don't sugar-coat anything" Logan told her. "Things are about to get Very Ugly"

It was then Duncan took him by surprise and tackled Logan to the ground.

"Get away from her!" he yelled, using the fact he was off guard to land a few good punches squarely against Logan's jaw. Weevil came running up behind him a few moments later and stood between Veronica and Logan.

It took Veronica a moment to process what was happening. She saw Weevil reach out and land a kick squarely against Logan's jaw as he lay on the floor gasping.

"Weevil?" she spluttered, trying to get a look at whoever had thrown Logan to the ground.

"Did he hurt you?" Weevil asked turning his focus back to Veronica, grabbing her shoulder and assessing her for injuries. Hector and his man Havier should be on their way down in a few minutes, this pretty 09er asshole was gonna regret the day he ever left that fancy Mansion of his.

"No!" she protested, trying to reach past him, to get a better look.

Logan cried out in pain as he tried to wriggle free from Duncan's attack, as a football player, Duncan was the stronger of the two and he was still trying to clear the fog as his head exploded in pain from Weevils kick. He felt Duncan's hands on his throat, he clawed against his grip and jabbed his elbow upwards into his face, rolling his body free, gasping as he felt Weevil land another kick against his lower back. Duncan grabbed him by the hair and punched him several times in the face. The shock of the sudden attack left him trying to catch up, he pulled his arms up by his head to protect himself from the assault.

"Duncan?!" he protested, trying to push him off, the will to fight suddenly left him.

"You lying son of a bitch!" Duncan screamed. "I'll kill you!" he told Logan his blue eyes were burning with hatred.

 _He knows…._ Logan felt his blood run cold.

"STOP!" Veronica screamed, trying to get past Weevil but he pushed her back, there were two other people approaching from along the beach towards them. PCHers she noted.

"We know what he did Veronica" Weevil comforted her. "Let us handle this"

 _What the hell was happening? How had they found her? Was that Duncan?_

"DUNCAN LET HIM GO!" she cried again as she saw his hands on Logan's throat. He wasn't fighting back, he was barely defending himself.

"I KNOW HE KILLED LILLY!" Duncan responded as he gripped the handful of Logan's hair and started to bash his head into the sand. He wasn't quite sure where the intense rage had come from… was it from seeing Logan KISSING Veronica? Moments ago, he had been contemplating calling the Sheriff's department so things wouldn't escalate too far. Now he couldn't stop beating his friends face into a bloody pulp.

"It wasn't me!" Logan pleaded, trying to struggle free.

"Get off him!" she ordered, her voice was urgent, she threw herself against Duncan, trying to pull him away, but she was too petite and he shoved her backwards and grabbed Logan by the throat again, squeezing so tightly that he began to wriggle more desperately beneath him. The world was going black, fading in and out.

"DUNCAN!" Logan heard Veronica's scream. "WEEVIL MAKE HIM STOP!" she pleaded.

"Weev's!" Hector called out as he approached the struggling trio, Logan had tried to grip Weevils foot to pull himself away, reaching for anything to use as a weapon.

"We got this Veronica" Weevil told her, stomping on Logan's hand, something broke under his boot. Logan yelled out again, unable to gain the upper hand because he was pinned being attacked on two sides.

"Please don't hurt him… stop!" she begged, trying to get between them again.

 _Was this girl nuts?_ Hector thought as he watched the petite blond reach for her taser and jab it into Duncans ribs, he spasmed and she used that momentum to help Logan roll him off, who gasped desperately for air crouched on his knees as Veronica threw herself between the writhing Duncan and the PCHers. Shielding him.

"What the hell Veronica?" Weevil demanded, pissed.

"Back off!" she warned, her heart racing.

"Back off? You are the one who called ME for help, remember? I saw that Motel room, Meg said she saw him chasing you… then we find all those files on your computer?" Weevil shouted, pointing at Logan, the brass knuckles glinting in the moonlight.

"I know.. but its changed… we need to calm down" she reasoned.

"Calm down?" Duncan bellowed. "HE MURDERED MY SISTER!" as he reached for Logan again.

"He was in Neptune that day.. but I don't think he killed Lilly" Veronica pleaded.

"Don't be stupid Veronica… why would he cover something like that up if he wasn't guilty?" Weevil demanded.

"I—I don't know… but he didn't do it…" she screamed as she saw Weevil step forwards.

"Well then he's going to give us some answers" Weevil told her, pushing her out of the way and connecting the brass knuckles to Logan's jaw. The world spun and he saw stars, she was about to pull the taser again when Hector reached out and pulled it from her.

"NOOOOO!" she cried out as Havier joined Weevil by kicking him in the ribcage. Hector yanked her away and held her back.

"What did you do to Lilly Kane?!" Weevil demanded, attacking him viciously.

"It wasn't me!" Logan spluttered, spitting blood from his mouth and trying to stand but the kick to his ribs winded him.

"LOGAN!" Veronica screamed helplessly.

"We are getting answers Veronica" Duncan told her angrily. "One way or another!" as he marched to Logan and grabbed his collar, dragging him to the water and shoving his face under the crashing waves. The cold water shocked him and suddenly Logan couldn't get air, splashing wildly trying to stand up.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?" Duncan spat, thrusting him back under the waves. "SHE LOVED YOU!" he snapped yanking Logan out again and pushing him under, Logan thrashing around in the water as Havier shoved a foot against his chest to weigh him down.

Veronica watched in horror as her former boyfriend interrogated Logan, she couldn't release Hectors grip on her arms, pleading she begged Weevil to make them stop. He didn't.

Vinnie Van Lowe heard the Mars girl screaming before he realised what was happening ahead of him, there was a fight, it seemed that the PCH biker gang members had already caught up to the Echolls boy.

"You murdered my sister!" one of the guys shouted, beating the Echolls kid into a pulp but strangely, Veronica threw herself between them, trying to protect him. He didn't quite understand the politics of what was happening here, but someone was going to get very badly hurt if he didn't step in and do something. He took off running towards them faster as he watched the Kane boy yank Logan into the water. Jesus Christ.. they were going to drown him. It wasn't a fair fight, four on one. He pulled his weapon and fired a warning shot into the air.

"Get off of him!" he ordered, watching the bikers all snap their head in his direction.

Veronica used the moment to pull herself free from Hector and ran to the water, pulling Logan gasping from the water. Havier threw himself against Vinnie who had his gun trained on Weevil and disarmed him. The two struggled while Hector reached for the weapon to take it out of play but it was too late, Duncan Kane had already gotten hold of it and turned to train it onto Logan.

"You were my friend…" he accused bitterly as Logan stared at him wide-eyed, fear crept into his bones as he realised that the line of fire also included Veronica, he tried to put her behind him.

"I AM your friend…" he promised, his voice was careful, he tried to keep his tone calm. Vinnie and Havier stopped struggling, and all eyes were trained on this little exchange.

"Friends don't murder each other's sisters" Duncan shouted.

"Duncan… drop the gun" Veronica insisted, eyes trained on the weapon.

"Get away from him Veronica!" Duncan warned her.

"Hey, man.. let's talk about this" Logan pleaded, the shallow water still beating against his legs.

"Duncan, man, come on put the gun down" Weevil told him. Eager to de-escalate the situation, this had crossed over into something far worse than he had intended. Guns changed the rules.

"I'll put it down, after I put HIM down" he said coldly.

"Come on kid… don't do this" Vinnie reasoned, approaching slowly, trying to gain his focus.

"You don't want that kind of blood on your hands man" Hector agreed, Duncan Kane may have been an 09er, but deadly assault with a firearm? That would be hard to throw out of court.

Hector used the moment of distraction to tackle Duncan and try to get a hold of the weapon, a single shot rang out into the darkness as blue lights flashed towards their direction, the police were on the way, someone must have overheard the shots.

It seemed like time had slowed down, a momentary flash from the barrel of the handgun, deafening and next thing Logan knew a powerful force smacked into him, knocking him off balance, his head went under the waves for a moment before he felt hands grabbing him and pulling him upright, Vinnie Van Lowe, he looked around, trying to clear the stinging salt water from his lungs, his eyes and felt something slumped beside him being dragged away Weevils hands thrusting forwards, hauling a petite blond forwards, yanking his jacket off and pushing it against her chest.

 _No No No…._

Logan heard Weevils voice soft and soothing, promising everything would be okay and he felt like someone had just torn out his soul, the entire world upended, and he stared at Havier pulled out his phone and started to demand an ambulance as Duncan's shocked gaze met his as he realised what had happened, desperate whimpers and shallow breathing as he looked towards Veronica, the dark patch on her t shirt getting larger as the sand started to pool with blood. He felt his heart stop as the situation finally caught up to him, he was going to be sick.

She had taken the bullet for him instead.


	13. Chapter 13

Sheriff Lamb hung up the phone with Dr Jeremiah Holtz from Neptune Memorial Hospital, the Mars girl was still in surgery, it didn't look good. The bullet had punctured her lung and was still lodged in her chest cavity, narrowly missing her heart by a few inches. It still wasn't certain how this was going to play out. This night was a royal fucking mess. He had five members of the PCH biker club in a holding cell, the son of Neptune's wealthiest family, Duncan Kane was sitting in the interrogation room with his family chief lawyer and Logan Echolls, son of Movie Star Aaron Echolls, was currently under armed guard at the Neptune General Centre having the bones in his left hand reset, after he had been beaten into a bloody pulp on the beach.

"Sheriff Lamb!" Rosita Haverdez called, damn reporters, the first of them had shown up to get their exclusive. Lamb gave Leo a look and nodded that he should remove the woman from the building.

He skimmed over the statement from Vinnie Van Lowe again and tried to get hold of the facts. Veronica Mars had gone to a Motel Room in the Camelott about 6.30pm this evening, her phone records indicated she had invited Weevil Navarro to meet her there about 9pm for god knows what but Lamb was sure he had enough of an idea. The Tech guys hadn't been able to crack her computer password yet to see if it could shed any more light on the situation. Sometime in between her getting some takeout food at 8pm and making that arrangement, Logan Echolls had showed up at the Motel and the two of them had what the witness in room 20A described as a lovers tryst on the balcony before going back to her room. _Busy girl…_ Lamb thought. It was while there a struggle ensued; perhaps she had given him the wrong idea? Had he figured out she had set him up? Could this have been a plot between Veronica and the PCHers to get some cash out of the 09er? He flicked over the crime scene pictures Vinnie had taken with his camera phone, the girl had given Echolls a face full of pepper spray and bolted out the fire escape.

Statements from the Manning girls were confirmed by CCTV footage Van Lowe had provided of Logan Echolls chasing Veronica through the Neptune Plaza Arcade before they ended up on the beach. It seems that the PCHers caught up with them and a fight erupted, Vinnie was on the beach, saw the fight, he drew his weapon when it seemed like the Echolls boy's life was in danger and fired a few warning shots when one of the PCH bikers had wrestled Van Lowes handgun away from him, the resulting struggle ended up with Veronica Mars being shot in the crossfire. Either way, it didn't matter what went down, pretty young blond girls getting caught up in gun fights on the beach that close to the Pier and the 0909 area code tended to get the Mayor riled up. It was bad for the tourist business. They still couldn't locate Keith Mars, the girl's father.

Sheriff Lamb picked up his coffee and walked into the interrogation room, handing the file in his hand to Deputy Sacks and nodding that he should leave. He regarded Duncan Kane carefully, he looked like he was in shock, not that that should be surprising 09ers tended to be a little sheltered from the more ugly aspects of life there in Neptune, not that Duncan's family was a stranger to tragedy. He recalled consoling the Kane lad a year ago while he had sat in the waiting area with his mother Celeste Kane after the murder of his sister Lilly.

"I just got off the phone with Neptune Memorial, Veronica is in surgery, it is going to be a few more hours until someone can tell us anything more" Lamb informed him, the mention of the Mars girls name seemed to snap the boy out of his almost catatonic state.

"When can I see her?" Duncan demanded. The events on the beach just an hour earlier had happened so quickly, it seemed like seconds after Veronica had been shot that the Deputy's had shown up and the blue flashing lights and sirens had filled the night air. He rubbed at the end of his t-shirt, Veronica's blood mixed with sand was a dark brownish stain, he traced it with his fingers.

"After we ask a few questions and locate her dad" Lamb told him. "What were you doing out on the beach Duncan?"

"My Client has already prepared this written statement" Nigel Holdman the lawyer decreed, handing out a piece of paper.

"I asked Mr Kane here" Sheriff Lamb interrupted. Damn he hated Lawyers.

"Meg…" Duncan answered.

"Your girlfriend, Meg Manning" Lamb clarified.

"Yes" he replied.

"What about her?" Sheriff Lamb enquired.

"Meg was worried about Veronica… Logan, Logan bothers her at school" Duncan mumbled.

"So there's a history of trouble between the two of them?" Lamb elaborated, making a note.

"Not always, just after my sister was…" Duncan explained. "Meg wanted me to check on Veronica, so I did, that when I found them together on the beach"

"The beach below the eastside staircase?" Lamb repeated.

"Yeah… I ran into a guy from school, Weevil, he was looking for Veronica as well" Duncan responded impatiently.

"You any idea why?" Lamb asked, giving Duncan his usual smug cocky attitude.

"Yeah.. I have a pretty good idea why… he's responsible for…" Duncan continued but it was then his lawyer grabbed his arm and whispered something in his ear. Duncan fell silent after that and slid the written statement forwards, scribbling his signature onto the paperwork.

"Responsible for what Duncan? The shooting?" Lamb demanded. If only it could be that easy. At the mention of the shooting, Duncan's face fell, he looked like he was going to be sick. He wasn't getting anywhere with this kid tonight, rolling his eyes Lamb picked up the statement and handed them both an evidence bag to collect Duncan's clothes, he passed over a Neptune Sheriff's Department tracksuit. He might as well use his evening grilling someone who he could get some actual information out of.

"Thank you for your co-operation Mr Kane, if you could please remove your clothing for Evidence, we have provided you with some new attire for your journey home. Sorry for the inconvenience, We appreciate your time, thank you for your statement, you can head home now and if you can think of anything else, please give us a call" Lamb told him before going back to his office. Stone walled.

"Leo.. get that evidence to lock up, and have forensics get those PCHer's tested for gunshot residue" Lamb barked, turning his attention to Ryan's and Briar. "Any luck finding the weapon yet?" he demanded.

"No sir.. its still too dark along the beach to see anything, its probably in the water, we will have to wait until sun up to get a dive team in there to search it properly" Briar replied.

"Alright… just make sure the area stay's closed off to the public, last thing we want is some 5 year old playing cops and robbers with a live pistol" he snapped. If the gun was in the water… then there was no way he could get prints. He looked at the statement from Kane, it said that Hector Esposito had struggled with him when he had tried to remove the gun from the fight after that Havier "Shiv" Alonso had wrestled it away from Vinnie Van Lowe. That was a start.

"Sacks, get that Navarro kid up next!" he demanded.

Thumper and Felix sat in the holding cell with Havier, they hadn't seen Weevil or Hector since they had been dragged in off the beach. From the sounds of it, they had missed all the good stuff.

"A Kane and PCHer?" Thumper repeated. "You just KNOW they are gonna pin this on us…"

"At least you two weren't there, you guys were with the car" Havier complained. "It was that 09er kid who pulled the trigger" he swore.

"Oh come on, Shiv, you know how this shit goes down" Felix explained. "No jury would convict no rich white boy in Neptune, no the DA is going to pin this on our boy Hector"

"All this shit… and for what? Some white trash?" Thumper growled. One more arrest and he was on litter duty.

"Didn't you hear?" Havier exclaimed.

"Hear what?" Felix demanded.

"Logan Echolls killed Lilly Kane" he replied.

"Come on Weevil, just admit it!" Lamb shouted as he yelled in the Navarro boys face.

"I told you I want my phone call… and we aren't answering anymore of your damn questions until I get a Lawyer!" Eli Navarro growled back as he watched Lamb tap his thumb against the file in front of him.

"You were trying to extort money out of that Echolls kid weren't you?" Lamb demanded.

"NO! I went there to protect Veronica because I have her back" Weevil snapped.

"This something you two do regularly? She one of your little honey traps?" Lamb taunted.

"What's happening to Veronica?" Weevil demanded, desperate for information on the petite blond girl who had been bleeding and struggling for breath in his arms as he had tried to stop the bleeding.

"You seem awfully concerned about this Mars girl.. she your girlfriend?" Lamb accused.

"TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON WITH MY FRIEND!" Weevil shouted, jumping out of his chair and slamming his hand into the table.

Lamb snapped out of his chair and squared up to Weevil, nostrils flaring.

"What's happening is someone shot her and she's going to be lucky to make it through the night" the Sheriff smirked. "Now… according to this" he snarled sliding a copy of Duncan Kanes statement onto Weevils side of the table. "It was YOUR Hombre Hector who pulled the trigger"

"No Way Man! This is Bullshit!" Weevil snapped, pushing the paper away, rejecting it.

"He tested positive for the gun powder.. he had his hands on that gun" Lamb smirked. "Pretty open and shut case.. only thing I need now is the reason why you were at that Motel looking for Veronica"

"Sheriff?" Sacks interrupted.

"WHAT?!" Lamb snarled, he hated it when someone disturbed his favourite parts of an interrogation.

"Keith Mars is here" Sacks replied.


	14. Chapter 14

Keith Mars burst through the doors to the surgical ward in Neptune Memorial Hospital, desperately searching for his baby girl. He found his friend Cliff McCormack waiting in the hallway, their eyes connected and he felt like he was going to crumble.

"Where is she?" he sobbed, he heart felt like it was ready to be ripped from his chest… this was his worst nightmare.

"She's still in theatre… Keith.." Cliff said softly as he reached out and grabbed his friend.

"Who did this?" he demanded. "What was she doing on that beach?" His mind couldn't make sense of all of this.

"Are you Mr Mars?" Nurse Caitlyn asked, approaching the two men.

"Yes… I am Keith Mars.. have you any news on my daughter?" he pleaded, his green eyes wet with tears.

"She's still in surgery, its going to be another hour or so, they have to rebuild her lung, and there was still some internal damage.. can I get you anything?" she offered sympathetically.

"No.. just… keep me up to date when you get anymore news, thank you nurse" he replied. Years of being in the Sheriffs department, he was familiar with the daily grind in the hospital wards.. of course that had usually been when he was waiting the outcome of gang shootings and stabbing victims.. none of them had ever been his daughter.

"Vinnie called me, I didn't see her being brought in" Cliff told him as he led his friend over to the waiting area seats.

"What happened?" Keith asked, a hard edge creeping into his voice.

"He went to the Motel, she wasn't there… Leo tracked the car. It was at the pier. He found her on the beach, there was a fight, he tried to stop it. She got caught in the crossfire" Cliff told him. "Do you have any idea what she was doing there?"

"She was hiding from the Echolls boy.." he explained, pulling out his tablet and handing the scanned documents to Cliff that she had sent him… had that really only been 6 hours ago?

"This is the…" Cliff began reviewed the documents.

"The day that Lilly Kane was murdered" Keith nodded. He had left Cheyenne with the reporter from the Tribune and headed to Sheriff's Department to leave her written statement in when he had received Cliffs call about Veronica being in the hospital.

"Lamb is going to try and bury this" Cliff warned him.

"I know.." Keith replied solemnly.

"I can stay.." Cliff told him, as much as they both wanted vindication for him over the Lilly Kane murder case, he didn't want to abandon his friend in his hour of need.

"No.. go. You heard the nurse, Veronica would never forgive me if we didn't act on this" Keith told him firmly. Cliff McCormack nodded. This was their partnership, Keith uncovered the evidence that Cliff needed to grease the wheels of the justice system in the right way. In a town like Neptune, decent honourable people like Keith Mars were a rarity.

"I'll be back as soon as I can" Cliff told him, grabbing his brief case and taking the tablet with him. He had a judge to wake up before that Echolls kid was sequestered onto a plane and out of the reach of the law.

Aaron Echolls was furious, his agent had been calling him non-stop for the last hour, there were paparazzi all over the place and he hadn't been able to see his son as he had been getting a cast fitted. What the hell had gone on tonight?

 _Son of Movie Star Aaron Echolls involved in Gang Shooting on Neptune Beach._

The descriptions and blurred photographs on the internet site showed that Logan was a bloody mess, Celeste and Jake Kane had called to tell him that Duncan was currently in the police station. Seems that Logan had been with the Kane boy after all. He felt on edge, he hated being around cops, they tended to snoop where he didn't want them to snoop, and those elusive tapes were still no place to be found.

 _Surely this wasn't connected to the slaying of Lilly Kane?_

Some dark instinct in his gut told him that it was. The Mars girl had been involved… _what had Logan been doing with the Veronica?_ The question had been bothering him ever since their phone call 3 hours earlier.

 _Son of Movie Star Aaron Echolls was sharing a Motel Room with Victim Hours before Shooting._

Could it just have been as simple as his son was involved with the Mars girl? Wrong place, wrong time? What was his son doing getting mixed up with guns anyway?

Lynn paced around the kitchen gathering her things; they had finally got the call from the hospital to say that visiting hours would allow them in to visit their son. He dialled the number for his publicist and told her to meet them at the hospital, he had to get ahead of the press on this. Didn't matter what state the boy was in, he was going to pay for getting them into this situation.

"Logan?" Lynn called as she entered the ward, pushing her way passed the Deputy's in the hallway.

"Mom?" he called, peering out from his hospital bed. She gasped as she saw the bruising on his face, the cut on his forehead, the large cast over his arm. She reached over and grabbed him, he winced as she irritated the wounds on his ribs.

"My baby, are you ok?" she exclaimed, fussing over him.

"No…" he sobbed.

Aaron watched the exchange with disgust, Lynn always babied him, since when was he raising something so soft.

"Why? What happened? Who did this to you?" she cooed.

"Yes Logan… do tell us what happened?" Aaron growled, Logan's eyes flashed in fear as he regarded his father.

"Is there any news on Veronica?" Logan pleaded, no one had told him anything, he wasn't even sure they were in the same hospital.

"The Mars girl? The one you were in a Motel room with?" Aaron snarled. "I thought you were going to Duncan's" he snapped, approaching the bed.

"Dad.. please… just tell me what's happened to her" he sobbed, he was desperate for news.

"We don't know.. Keith Mars hasn't been found yet, and we could barely get out the door with all the press outside" Lynn told him.

"The Sheriff's department has a lot of questions for you" Aaron threatened, his tone promised violence but honestly at this point Logan wasn't sure what damage his father could really do. _If she didn't make it…_

"She threw herself in front of me…" Logan explained, his voice was choked. His throat was still sore from when Duncan had tried to strangle him. It felt like his world was crumbling, he was numb, hollow, he wanted to climb from the bed, unhook all the wires and search for her, but he could barely move. The sight of her laying bleeding in the sand, her blue eyes closing, Vinnie Van Lowe had held him back from pulling her into his arms, he had been watching desperately as the sheriffs deputys had arrived before Hector had torn the gun from Duncan's hands and thrown it into the water. "She took that bullet for me…." He sobbed.

"Why?!" Aaron demanded. "What are you involved in? Is it Drugs?" he spat, trying to figure out exactly how much of a mess the brat had gotten him into.

"Mom please… I need to see her…" Logan pleaded.

"Well that might be a bit difficult" Raj Sanju's replied from the doorway, flicking through his palm pre. Aaron turned to see his publicist standing behind him. "Didn't you hear?" he asked. "The Mars girl isn't going to make it"


	15. Chapter 15

"Didn't you hear?" Raj Sanju's voice declared. "The Mars girl isn't going to make it"

Logan felt the room shrink away as the sound of those words ricocheted around his head, he buried his hand in his hair and took deep breaths.

 _No.. No.. No.._

The image of her standing in front of him, her golden hair silvery in the moonlight, the sound of the waves, the soft sand beneath their feet, her blue eyes like sapphire pools pulling him in, drowning him in them, the feel of her lips brushing against his, the smell of salt and marshmallows filling his senses as he tasted her mouth, the feel of her perfect petite body held against him.

 _No.. No.. No..._

 _She couldn't be dead… he had just found her, just realised what she meant to him.._

She wasn't supposed to be breakable… she was a petite camera wielding badass… she was fearless.. and she was dead now because of him.

The sight of her being worked on with the paramedics flashed through his mind, the tubes they had put down her throat, how white her skin had looked under the moon. The smell of blood and salt in the sand. _That couldn't be the last time he saw her…._

Logan felt the words rip through his body, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak. Tears were falling hard and fast from his brown eyes, and he couldn't even close them as the world without her in it continued to pass by the door where his father stood with his publicist. Nurses, Doctors, Phones ringing, the smell of the pine floor cleaner. He had felt this before, on the highway down the I-5 the day Sean had called him with the news about Lilly.

 _She was gone… and it was his fault… again.._

The agony felt like it was going to shatter him to pieces as his mother cradled him to her, he was still sobbing like he would come apart at the seams when they were interrupted by a figure at the door.

"Logan Echolls… you are under arrest for the Murder of Lilly Kane" Sheriff Lamb declared as he entered the room, pulling his cuffs from his belt. The ward looked a sickly green colour under the florescent lights.

He was yanked from the bed by two deputy's as his mother shrieked and protested, his father threatened to get his lawyers involved, the world passed by in a blur, Lamb continued to read him his rights and he was marched out of the ward, lights from camera flashes, he felt numb, she was gone… so his fate didn't matter anymore.

It was 2am and Daisy Blossom was pissed, Vinnie had dragged her down to the Sheriff's Department and insisted she give a statement about what she had witnessed. Like she needed to be getting involved in gang shootings and if she had to put up with any more of Lambs disgusting flirting referencing how he really wanted her to give him a Floral good time she was going to punch something.

 _What did it matter what she had saw? She hadn't been anywhere near the beach when the shooting had happened!_

"And you are SURE you saw them together?" Cliff McCormack repeated.

"YES!" she growled. "They were almost at third base by the time I got the exit door open" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Willingly?" Vinnie repeated.

"The girl had a 3 inch wide Taser! If she didn't want him doing it… he wouldn't have been doing it" she told him sarcastically.

"So.. it was just the two of them?" Cliff encouraged.

"If there had been more.. I'd definitely have called the Sheriff's department. Orgies in the mirror house tend to ruin business" she glared. "Can I go yet?"

"Just one more thing.." Cliff told her. "Who were the others?"

"Him…" she said, pointing at Duncan Kane's photo on the table in front of her. "And Him" she said, pointing over at Weevil who was still sitting beside Sack's desk having his statement typed up. "They showed up together about 10 minutes after that girl and her boyfriend left"

Cliff frowned, this was about the third time she had mentioned that Logan and Veronica were romantically involved, it didn't add up. She had been hiding from him, she had sent those files to her father about the Echolls boy.. why would she have been involved with someone she considered the prime suspect in the Lilly Kane murder?

He wished more than anything Keith would call with an update, that the girl who practically as close to a child of his own he would ever have would just pull through and they could ask her.


	16. Chapter 16

Duncan Kane slumped into his seat at the dining room table, he felt numb. Meg's number flashed again on his phone and he slid the red dot across to silence it. He couldn't talk to her right now.

 _How could he have been so stupid?_

He listened as his father paced the kitchen hatching plans with Clarence Weidman, his family's head of security. His mother gripped a glass of sherry and Duncan stared out the window to the pool side, the area where his sister Lilly's body had been discovered. The place where Logan had left her laying on the cold tiles. He still couldn't reconcile the image of his grieving friend with the murderer of his sister, Veronica had been correct. Abel Koontz had been paid off, it must have been by the Echolls family.

 _Veronica…_ his heart twisted. She was fighting for her life in hospital because of him. His lawyer had told him to say that in the struggle, Hector had been the one holding the gun.. he had been too traumatised and in shock to disagree with him. Veronica would be disgusted with him right now if she knew he was allowing someone else take the fall for something that he had done.

He took his medication as the family doctor recommended and sipped the glass of water his father gave him.

"It's going to be ok son" Jake Kane promised, running his hand through his son's hair. He regarded him strangely for a moment, like he was disappointed in himself.

"I might've killed her.." Duncan spluttered.

"Don't you ever say that again!" Celeste shouted. "You are not responsible for the things that family has done to us, do you understand?"

"Celeste…" Jake warned her in a low growl.

"No, Jake, this is just your bad choices coming home to roost. Your insistence on getting involved with Lianne Mars.. now you have two dead children and turned your son into a murderer" she snapped.

"She's dead?" Duncan shrieked.

"No one knows for sure yet son" Jake dismissed, comforting him. He gave Clarence a look that said he should go and do some digging.

"Of course she is!" Celeste replied mockingly, she hated Jake, she resented him. His affairs, the lies, bringing this greek tragedy into their lives.

"We don't know that yet!" Jake shouted at his wife. She relished in seeing him this upset, the thought that he had lost another daughter, it was a hateful thing that the idea of it made her so happy, but that was her life with Jake Kane. Locked in a marriage with the man she loathed. Her precious son had almost slept with his half-sister, oh the scandal if that ever came out… no, it was a good thing if the Mars girl was dead. It would be best for everyone. Lianne's presence would finally be removed from her life.

"Abel Koontz didn't kill Lilly" Duncan declared. Suddenly both of them stopped arguing and focused their attention squarely on their son, Clarence Weidman ended his phone call and regarded Jake carefully.

"Of course he did… he confessed" Celeste told him dismissively, a shrill edge to her voice, he snapped his attention in her direction. She was lying, she knew something.

"No he was paid to confess" Duncan informed her.

"What are you saying son?" Jake asked cautiously.

"Logan was in Neptune the day Lilly died, Veronica found evidence of him passing over the border. He was here" Duncan told them.

Jake and Celeste gave each other a horrified look, _had they been wrong about their precious son?_

"Sheriff Mars found a witness that destroys Abels confession" Duncan told them.

"A witness?" Clarence demanded and Duncan nodded.

"You have to deal with this…" Jake instructed, his voice was panicked as Clarence bowed his head.

 _Damn that Keith Mars…_


	17. Chapter 17

There was a warm soft breeze in the air and Veronica Mars lay back on the sunbed looking up at the stars, the smell of the smoking wood from the bonfires, the taste of papaya from her cocktail and enjoyed listening to the sound of the waves crashing along the shore line, she smiled happily to herself. Looking up at all the constellations, she felt content, peaceful. She could just stay here in this place forever; she couldn't remember when she had last felt this free.

"You know this is just a visit right?" Lilly's voice told her happily.

Veronica turned her head to look at her beautiful friend laying on the sunbed beside her, smiling and shaking her head slightly.

"You do realise there's no sun right now?" Veronica giggled, hinting at Lillys bikini top and skimpy shorts.

"No excuse not to let your hot out" Lilly grinned jokingly, wiggling her hips.

"I've missed this" Veronica smiled, resting on her side to get a better look at her friend.

"I know…" Lilly said, a sad knowing smile crossing her lips.

 _Why had she missed this?_ Something tugged at Veronica's mind. She frowned.

Noticing, Lilly jumped up and took Veronica's drink from her hand.

"Come on!" she called as she ran towards the water.

"What are you doing?" Veronica laughed as she watched her friend run towards the water, removing her bikini top and discarding it in the sand.

"Enjoying myself, come on Mars!" she yelled out as she ran into the waves. "Come see this!"

Veronica shook her head and followed her friend into the water, it wasn't cold, it was like stepping into a warm bath. _Water isn't supposed to feel like this…_ she thought.

"What are we looking at?" Veronica asked, as she swam out to same depths as Lilly, her feet barely touching the soft sand beneath her toes.

"This" she said, point towards Neptune, the beach lit up beautiful under a thousand lights. It looked magical from there, inviting like Christmas tree or something.

"Neptune?" Veronica replied, giggling.

"Your kingdom" Lilly grinned. "You… are going to own this town someday Veronica Mars"

"You mean WE are going to own this town" Veronica corrected.

Lilly pursed her lips sadly and shook her head.

"You don't remember yet do you?" Lilly told her.

"Remember?" Veronica asked, an odd sensation rolling over her. Lilly looked different for a second, otherworldly, like some kind of Siren, her wet hair slicked against her skin.

"You don't belong here yet Veronica" Lilly told her. The waves started to grow cold as memories of freezing cold and blackness with no air thundered into her mind, images of being torn gasping from under the water, of being dragged along onto the sand. Of hands holding her, pressing into her, pf a dull pain in her chest. She gave Lilly a confused stare. _Had something happened to her?_

"Logan…" she whispered, bits and pieces of earlier that evening coming back to her.

"There's my smart girl" Lilly smiled sadly, reaching forward to cradle her in the water. "I'm going to miss you, bitch" she cried, holding her close.

"Lilly… she pleaded.

"You got work to do Mars… I have secrets you need to uncover..." Lilly told her before grabbing her shoulders and pushing her under the waves.

Veronica struggled, fighting against the dark, the cold forcing her down, sinking into the blackness, hands pushing her, clamping her down, choking. It felt like seconds later that she tried to bolt upright, coughing, choking, something long and hard down her throat, the light in the room screamed through her eyes, disorientated.

"She's back!" a female voice called, pushing her back down onto the bed, something stung against her arm and the world blurred before she slipped back to unconsciousness.

Keith Mars cradled the small cup of cold coffee in his hands as Inga continued to talk to Sheriff Lamb, telling him to leave, that now was not the appropriate time to be trying to ask questions regarding the Lilly Kane investigation, she turned reassuring him it was going to be ok. It had been hours, hours of hearing nothing, hours of looking at the television screen and seeing the headlines. Logan Echolls being marched towards the Sheriff's Department, celebrity interviews about how nice a kid he was, news broadcasters speculating on what had happened at the Camelott with Veronica that night. The things they were trying to say about his daughter made his blood boil. According to his best friend Cliff McCormack, the Echolls boy had not been the one to shoot Veronica. Official reports were that a PCH biker named Hector Esposito had been the one to disarm Vinnie Van Lowe and fire the shots. He just wanted to get in there and see his baby girl, to hold her hand, to tell her it was going to be alright.

"Mr Mars?" Nurse Caitlyn called, approaching him carefully.

His head snapped up and he jumped from his seat, dropping the polystyrene cup onto the floor.

"You have news?" he asked her eagerly.

"The doctor would like to speak to you…" she said solemnly.


	18. Chapter 18

"What is your relationship with Veronica Mars?" Deputy Leo D'amato demanded as he slammed the file onto the desk in the interrogation room. Logan Echolls stared across the table but barely even registered his presence. _The kid looks like hell…_ Leo thought as he stared at the bruises on his face. He looked like he should be in a hospital, not sitting in an interrogation room.

His father Aaron Echolls was currently in Sheriff Lambs office with the Mayor demanding the release of his son. Unfortunately, given the bombshell in the media tonight that Abel Koontz wasn't the one who had really murdered Lilly Kane, he wouldn't be getting anywhere near his son for the rest of the evening. The story was running on multiple outlets and the phones hadn't stopped ringing with reporters. They had had to put the station onto lock down and the Chief Sheriff's Office was sending in some officers from San Diego PD to assist with the investigation and tighten security. Logan Echolls didn't much look like his father he thought as the boy shifted in his seat, wincing from the fractured ribs. He had taken a hell of a beating that evening, but Lamb refused to give him anymore pain medication until he had answered the questions. The look of agony on Logan's face as he struggled to breathe at the sound of her name made Leo feel ashamed of himself. This was torture, no matter what he had done, there were laws to protect human rights against this kind of thing.

"Where's my lawyer?" Logan repeated, reaching for the small clear plastic glass of water in front of him. He looked broken.

"Come on man, stop being a jerk!" Leo spat at him, he cared about Veronica. The two of them had been flirting with the idea of going on a date at one point. "Why were you with Veronica?"

"Fate? Serendipity?" Logan mused nonsensically. "Kismet?"

"Kismet… so you were involved?" Leo inferred, something crossed the suspects face like the memory was stabbing him in the gut. He nodded almost imperceptibly.

"See, I have this hard time believing that.. according to several witnesses, including your high school guidance counsellor, you hate Veronica. You have been involved in several incidents of harassment, most notably this statement from Wallace Fennel that you destroyed the headlights on her car a few weeks ago?" Leo told him pointedly. Logan lowered his head, of course these things would come back to haunt him now. How could he explain it? How could tell a complete stranger that he felt like his entire world had just died? She was gone.. none of this mattered anymore, and all those things he was describing… were his biggest regret. Time he had spent fighting himself and hating her when he should have been using it to love her instead.

"It was rather new…" Logan replied.

"New.. before or after she emptied a can of pepper spray into your face?" Leo snarled.

"That was a misunderstanding…" Logan argued.

"A misunderstanding.. like the one you had with Lilly Kane the day you bashed her head in?" the deputy asked.

"I didn't.." Logan denied, his voice was starting to break. He had been getting interrogated for the last twenty minutes… the same conversations.

"Well according to your friends Dick and Cassidy Casablanca's you had asked them to lie for you.. doesn't really seem like the actions of an innocent man" Leo pressed him.

"I think Veronica found out about this… and of course you would know that, because you basically stalked her all the time" Leo continued, his brown eyes burning into Logan's.

"I didn't.. we had an assignment.. I was worried about her…" Logan choked. A familiar tap on the mirror into the interrogation room told Leo that the Echolls family Lawyer was here, his time interrogating the son of a bitch was over.

"Yeah… well whatever went down.. it was your WORRYING ended up getting her shot on that beach" Leo scolded, picking up his file and storming out of the room leaving the Echolls kid sobbing quietly in the room behind him.

Thanks to everyone for sticking with the story so far.. I know the teasing pace can get a little frustrating, but I am doing my best to crank out the chapters, I don't always quite know where the story is going myself until I let the ink flow. Thanks to all those leaving reviews, its encouraging. I am glad you are enjoying it.


	19. Chapter 19

Sheriff Lamb had to admit he was slightly impressed with the way Deputy D'amato handled the Echolls interrogation, it was the first time he had seen even a chink in the Echolls armour. He had arrested the boy before for hosting underage parties on the beach, he was arrogant and a complete rich entitled jackass, but perhaps there was something in the way Leo handled the conversation, something about the connection they both shared to the Mars girl, helped the deputy to twist the knife in just the right way. Lamb would use whatever tools he had at his disposal to break him, he would get his confession. 9 times out of 10 it was always the boyfriend. This whole Abel Koontz debacle had royally screwed up his reputation in the press, he needed a win.

"Who had the gun?" Deputy D'amato demanded, Logan had given up trying to avoid their questions. He was exhausted, in pain and exactly where Lamb wanted him. "It might be worth bearing in mind that California does carry the death penalty"

"I don't know who had it at first… I was shoved under the water" Logan explained, trying to push the memories of drowning from his mind.

"Ok. Who had the gun when you saw it?" Leo corrected.

"Duncan Kane" he replied. The look of hatred in his best friend's eyes as he had stared at him down the barrel of that gun haunted him.

"Not surprising, if someone killed my sister I would probably be looking down the barrel of a gun at them too" Leo retorted and watched as Logan flinched. "So are you saying Duncan's the one who shot Veronica?" he encouraged. He had gotten it out of Logan earlier that Duncan was her ex-boyfriend, and it seemed that he was under the impression that Logan thought they were in some kind of relationship. Twisted fucker.

"It was dark, it happened so fast…" Logan told him as the scene played out in his mind again, the freezing water around his legs, the slippery sand, the shot ringing out, being forced backwards into the water, her small body following him. _She hadn't even cried out…_

"Time enough for you to use Veronica as a human shield" Leo accused him and Lamb grinned happily as he watched Logan's face fall in despair. _Guilty as shit._ Lamb thought as he turned and picked up a donut.

"I didn't…" Logan said as his voice trailed off. It had been 45 minutes now. He looked at his father's lawyer who said something about suing the police department for harassment and using inhuman interrogation techniques.

"I'm sure her father's going to find that very comforting as he's picking out floral arrangements" Leo snapped at Logan. "Weevil, Duncan and Havier all say that you pulled her in front of you as the shots were fired" he continued and watched as Logan buried his head in his remaining good hand.

"Hector and Duncan struggled with the gun, I can't say for sure which one pulled the trigger. Veronica jumped in front of me, I didn't even realise she had been hit until Vinnie Van Lowe pulled me from the water" he pleaded. "and she was just laying there…." He didn't know why he had to keep repeating himself, they didn't believe him anyway. The guilt gnawed at him, he just wanted them to throw him into a cell and let him curl up and cry his broken heart out.

The Echolls family lawyer demanded a break and some low level pain medications for his client and Lamb groaned in frustration as Leo looked to the window for permission. Knocking twice against the glass, Lamb relented. Deputy Leo left the interrogation room and walked in to speak to his boss.

"Good progress in there kid" Lamb complimented as he handed Leo a sugary donut and went off to collect some pain relief for their guest in the next room. Leo felt like a total bastard, he hated Lamb for making him do this, but he wanted the confession for Keith Mars's sake.

"Any news on Keith yet?" Leo asked Deputy Sacks quietly, their colleague Inga had gone to the hospital to wait for news.

"Yeah, Inga just called. Veronica is finally out of surgery" he replied. "They have moved her to intensive care"

"Veronica made it?" Leo asked him incredulously, surprise and relief flooded through him.

"Barely, it was touch and go there for a second, they lost her a few times" Sacks confirmed, rubbing his moustache.

"But Lamb told us she hadn't made it…" Leo snarled, anger flooded through him, he had been grilling that Echolls lad so hard because he was sure that Veronica Mars had been killed.

"I guess he wanted to see how much we could get out of him if he thought the girl was dead?" Deputy Sacks shrugged and picked up the coffee sitting on the table and went back to his desk.

Leo glanced through the window to the small interrogation room at the boy sitting there sobbing his heart out falsely believing the girl he thought he was in love with in his own weird and twisted way was dead.

Sheriff Lamb was a complete bastard.

Keith Mars sat beside his daughters hospital bed, watching her sleeping, her small hands were cold, she wore chipped mermaid green nail polish. She looked pale, she had lost a lot of blood, her heart had stopped on three occasions and required about 4 blood transfusions. According to medical science, his baby girl had been dead 3 times in the last 2 hours. The idea was killing him. He hadn't been here. He held her petite hand in his, smoothing the skin under his thumb, he would punish whoever was responsible for this. The editor of the Tribune had called to confirm that Cheyenne's story had been confirmed, they had released the story straight to their website an hour ago, it would be all over the national papers tomorrow, but somehow the thought didn't matter to him anymore. He just wanted his daughter to wake up and scold him for looking so worried. "Wrinkles like that will hurt your chances with the ladies" she would have told him.

"Whose your daddy kiddo?" he whispered, kissing her forehead, he only hoped on some level that she realised he was here.

The taste of coffee and stale biscuits still filled his mouth and he stood up to go and collect a drink of water from the small cooler beside the nurse's station. Cliff entered the ward just as he turned back towards Veronica's room. Inga had gone back home to get some sleep, she had work in a few short hours, it was times like this he was grateful for having such honest and loyal friends.

"They have arrested Logan Echolls for Lilly Kane's murder" Cliff told him, and handed him a copy of the warrant. The Sheriff's department were officially re-opening the Lilly Kane murder case. It was cold comfort.

"They still are trying to pin the shooting on the Esposito kid?" Keith asked him.

"Yes, although… according to Echolls statement, Veronica threw herself in front of him" Cliff said, his tone was puzzled.

"Well he's lying that's obvious" Keith dismissed. His daughter wouldn't have done that after the evidence she had found. _Vengeance is Mine says the Lord._

"I'm not sure about that" Vinnie Van Lowe interrupted, and Keith turned to give him an angry glare. If it hadn't been for Vinnie, there wouldn't have been a gun on that beach and his daughter wouldn't be sitting in the ICU. He handed Keith a copy of Daisy Blossoms signed statement.

"Why would my daughter throw herself in front of a bullet of the person she believed to be responsible for the murder of her best friend?" Keith demanded.

"That's just it… she wouldn't" Vinnie replied.

Keith turned to look at his sleeping daughter, her blond hair laying around her. The machines helping her to breathe, she would carry the scars of this night for the rest of her life.

"When I found them on that beach?" Vinnie continued. "Your daughter was trying to stop them hurting Echolls"

Keith Mars regarded his daughter again.. _what had she discovered since she sent him that email that had changed her mind? What did she know?_


	20. Chapter 20

Sheriff Lamb had convinced Judge Dewberry that given the highly publicised and sensitive nature of the recent gangland shooting involving the Mars girl that the PCHers involved should be sent directly to lock-up until the hearing on Monday morning. He had argued that given the heightened community tensions in Neptune, especially ones with connections to the Lilly Kane murder case that Logan Echolls should be considered a flight risk and that the Sheriff's Department should be allowed to use the full 48 hour holding period to question the suspect. The Judge, a very close personal friend of the Kane Family had agreed. Abel Koontz had been released earlier that morning, and he had sent most of the evening staff home, much to the protests of Leo D'amato who had argued that Logan Echolls should be sent back to Neptune General Medical Centre for a check-up.

The Echolls family lawyer had been in deliberations with several other Judges in Neptune to have Logan Echolls granted bail but it seemed so far that despite the boys fathers star power, no one wanted to risk their reputation by showing leniency to a murder suspect in such a high profile case. It was good he thought, it had made the getting the warrant for the Echolls property that much easier. They were digging into the families financial records, it seemed that Aaron Echolls was paying out $10,000 a month to a kids charity which didn't exist, it was possible that this is how the family had made bribes and payments to Koontz for his false confession. Everything was being looked at with new eyes, everything was being examined, they were reviewing the CCTV footage from traffic cameras for Logan Echolls vehicle the day that Lilly Kane had been murdered. Sure enough, there was also footage found of Lilly Kane herself driving away from the Echolls estate. It had even generated a traffic ticket in her name on one of the Kane's family cars known for use by the Kane children.

He pulled into his parking space outside the station and braced himself for being camera ready; this investigation was turning into a real fucking mess. Lamb was just grateful that the shooting had had the happy side-effect of keeping that thorn in his side, his former boss and mentor, Keith Mars, preoccupied as he sat by his daughter's bedside. The girl still hadn't woken up. She was a surprisingly tough little thing he noted, but part of him was pissed that he hadn't been able to get Hector Esposito sent away for a murder charge.

He walked to the Sheriff's department, made the correct press savvy and friendly political babble that the Mayor loved so much and made his way to his office. Weevil Navarro's grandmother sat in the reception area of the office with two small children by her side, she was pleading with Inga to allow the bail bondsman to pay for his release. Good luck there… Lamb sniggered to himself. Weevil had been involved in beating Logan Echolls and the family was pressing charges, in fact, he might even make the two boys share a cell in lock up when the station got busy later this afternoon. Lamb stared at the live feed video footage of the holding cells, the Echolls boy whom he had placed in solitary had barely moved from where he had curled up last night, he looked exhausted. Of course, that could have had something to do with the fact Lamb hadn't allowed anyone to inform the boy that Veronica Mars was still very much alive. He had let him sweat the thought out all night, it would be revealed during visiting hours with his lawyer this morning he mused as he went to pour himself a coffee.

Sleep just wasn't sleep anymore, for Logan Echolls it had been an escape, only this time, instead of dreaming about hazy old memories of his dead girlfriend Lilly Kane, or the erotic ones featuring a certain blond haired private investigator, he had been searching frantically through a large mirrored maze in snow covered outside garden, catching peripheral glimpses of blond hair. Veronica's laugh teasing him while he chased her image across the frozen mirrors, always just a few steps behind but never quite able to catch up with her. He had woken up in the cold cell shouting her name. He missed her so much it made him feel physically sick. The night alone in the cell had been torture, nothing to do, no way to be able to distract himself from his thoughts. He wished he could just re-wind time, go back to yesterday morning before she received those emails from the Border Station, explain things to her first, and tell her he was sorry. Kiss her, tell her he loved her. Keep her from ending up on that beach, from ending up between him and Duncan. He hadn't seen either of his parents since his arrest until they had brought him fresh clothes that morning.

"How are you doing son?" Aaron Echolls questioned, handing over the small grip bag of clothes, Logan just shrugged, dejected, he shuffled around as he began to change his t shirt, he didn't know how to explain what he was feeling. Aaron observed his sons quiet response, it was a little unnerving. Logan was always quick to anger, quick to rebuke any attempts at communication with his father with some witty sarcastic remark. He hadn't seen him like this since the Kane girl had died, guilt gnawed at him a little. He did love his son, he hadn't ever wanted to hurt him like that, but Lilly had been about to destroy their lives, he had done what he did to protect Logan as much as himself. Stupid piece of ass like that who would sleep with her boyfriend's father was not worth losing sleep over, but he couldn't exactly explain this to him. He knew the Sheriff's department wouldn't find anything in his sons room incriminating, all the evidence was circumstantial, it had been a year since the crime so the only thing to worry about were those damn tapes… and they wouldn't be so easy for the authorities to find. He knew from personal experience.

"Well I am just glad the Mars girl is going to be ok" Lynn said as she picked up some wet wipes and handed them to Logan. His head snapped in her direction, he looked almost too frightened to ask the question encase the response was something he couldn't deal with.

"Veronica is ok?" his voice was choked, hopeful. He was holding his breath, both desperate for confirmation and dreading the answer. It was a Schrodinger question. It was then Aaron realised why his son had been so upset, he would be suing the department for this.

"Yes, she was moved from the ICU this morning" his mother repeated, a confused frown on her beautiful face.

Logan collapsed onto the bed and buried his face in his hands, crying with relief.

She's ok…. She's ok.. the thought sent his heart rate racing.

"Didn't they tell you?" Lynn asked softly.

"No…" he sniffed. "No they told me she was dead…" he sobbed.

"Oh Honey…" his mother comforted, reaching her hand forward through the bars to him.

"It was only confirmed this morning on the news" Aaron dismissed handing his son a wash bag. "Frederickson is going to be here soon" he said, referring to the second of the families lawyers. "We still have to discuss why you were on that beach" his father threatened, but right now, Logan didn't care. Veronica was alive…


	21. Chapter 21

Keith Mars watched as the nurse finished taking Veronica's temperature again, she had woken up for a few moments about half past 6 that morning before falling back to sleep, they had given her a lot of medication because her body was fighting an infection caused by the bullet wound in her chest. She had smiled slightly and squeezed his hand, the lead doctor from the surgical team had been quite explicit about making sure Keith knew she needed plenty of rest, it had been almost 16 hours since the shooting and he was utterly exhausted.

"You should go home, shower and change" Nurse Caitlyn advised him sympathetically. "Her vitals are really good considering… I am sure she would appreciate some of her own clothes rather than a breezy hospital gown when she wakes up?" she suggested. Keith looked at her appreciatively and nodded. "This stuff, is going to knock her out for a least four to six hours" she smiled, tapping the IV bag and grabbing the clipboard. This woman had been amazing. The entire medical staff had worked tirelessly throughout the night to save his daughter, he owed them everything. He knew Caitlyn's suggestion to bring Veronica some things from home was a veiled attempt to encourage him to go and take care of himself a little, perhaps get some sleep and something to eat or drink that didn't come out of the vending machine in the hallway.

He gave her a smile and gathered up his jacket and headed towards the elevator, he should go home and feed Back-up, perhaps take him out for a quick walk and then call Cliff to get an update on the situation with Cheyenne's testimony. He was lost so deep in thought he didn't notice the tall African American gentlemen walking past the nurse's station as the elevator doors were closing.

Clarence Weidman was relieved when the elder Mars finally left, he had been waiting for his moment to solve this problem most of the early hours of that morning. The Mars girl was a threat now, if she woke up and contradicted Duncan's statement, fingered him as the shooter, then the police would dig further into the Kane family. They could discover the payments to Abel Koontz had been made by Kane Industries, so far the payments to his daughter were carefully disguised under a forged patent settlement. She had to be silenced, and there was no better opportunity. The hospital were currently going through a shift change, most of the senior medical team in this wing were on call and the next surgeries weren't due to be performed until 10am. He had researched the medical staff here, the good thing about the Kane Industries systems is that it provided much of the networked computers here in the hospital, they could monitor how many staff were actively on the floor. Currently, 2 nurses and a porter and the ward pharmacist. He waited until the short red headed nurse took the clipboard and walked away.

Now was the time, he picked up the syringe from the staff cart, an air bubble in the IV tube to her arm should be enough to fake a blood clot, complications from surgery. She was in a room isolated to the side, her blond hair laying around the pillow, a sleeping beauty. It was hateful to destroy something so young, but this was the job. He unplugged the heart monitor alarm speaker, he was careful to make sure he was alone, reaching for the metal pole holding the IV bad he unsheathed the needled and stepped forwards to puncture the tubing in his hand. He was so focused on finding just the right wiring that he didn't notice the short red head returning until she had already thrown her coffee into his face and smacked him in the head with the mug, she ran forwards and pulled the SOS Blue Emergency Response Alarm, within moments there would be a reserve team coming in with the crash cart. He cursed and shoved her away from him, bolting down the stairs. _Damn it!_

Keith Mars was almost leaving through the exit on the ground floor when he saw the crash cart being wheeled through the hallway upstairs towards the ICU, something very close to the mythical Police Gut told him it was for Veronica, he turned and headed for the staircase, it wasn't until he near the third floor that he collided with Clarence Weidman… _this wasn't a coincidence_ he thought. Reaching for his weapon, as a private investigator, he was rarely unarmed.

"Mars" Clarence growled, reaching for the waist band of his trouser holster.

"The Kane's sent you to kill my daughter?" Mars snapped, drawing his pistol. Weidman's eyes widened and he reached for his own gun, Keith didn't hesitate, he fired three shots in rapid succession. Two in the chest and one in the head. He didn't wait to check he was really down, he turned and ran up the stairs. Caitlyn was standing in the hallway, her red hair was falling around her face, she was a little bruised and visibly shaken. She looked at Keith and he knew his instincts had been right.

"There was a man…. He tried to…." She spluttered as she pointed towards Veronica's room. "But I…" she continued, pointing at the mess. She was frightened. There were several medical staff checking through the computer monitors in Veronica's room, it was a mess. A black broken coffee mug on the floor and discarded liquid all over the bedding and the floor. Keith looked at the woman in front of him and reached out to hold her.

"You saved my daughter" he thanked, smoothing her hair. This woman was beyond amazing, now Keith really DID owe her everything.


	22. Chapter 22

Weevil sighed slumping into his chair in the interrogation room. Cliff McCormack was his usual public defender and they had been looking at each other over this very table in the Sheriff's Department many times since he was 13 years old. As far as publicly funded legal defenders went, Cliff was better than most. Thumper and Felix had been released an hour ago, but apparently because of Weevil being found in possession of the brass knuckles during the fight it was being used to argue premediated intent. He was just thankful that at 17, he had to be tried as a minor. The Echolls family were pressing charges for the beating he had given Logan. He would gladly have done it again.

Logan had killed the girl that they had both loved. He deserved a hell of a lot worse. Now he was responsible for Veronica hanging on for dear life. He would pay for this.

"Any news on Veronica?" Weevil asked, he knew from his time being tutored by her some evenings that Mr McCormack was a family friend. There were pictures of him and Keith Mars standing with successful clients littered all around the Mars office reception wall.

"She woke up this morning, she couldn't say much, they still have her heavily sedated" Cliff reassured Weevil.

"Thank god" Weevil breathed in relief. His black shirt was still caked in her blood and he hadn't been able to get a straight answer out of any of the deputy's.

"You probably saved her life" Cliff told him supportively. It had been Weevil who had pulled Veronica from the water and applied pressure to the wounds. He had seen enough violence in his own neighbourhood, he had acted on instinct without really thinking about it. Street Skills First Aid had been a course in his local community centre. The PCHers had all attended, you never knew when you needed an emergency assist, the ambulance services in Neptune tended to take their time responding to any area outside the 0909 postal code. Anything someone could do in his neighbourhood to buy someone time, was worth knowing. It was the difference between life and death.

"She shouldn't have been there" he replied. Weevil still felt the guilt weighing him down, he was supposed to have had Veronica's back.

"And you say you saw the Echolls boy pull her in front of him?" Cliff clarified.

Weevil looked at him carefully, he had been replaying the previous evening over and over in his head. He had discussed it with Hector and Havier… Veronica had been trying to shield Logan before there were even guns involved; he just couldn't for the life of him imagine why she would have done something like that. Given what he had done to Lilly.

"I'm not sure anymore… it happened so quickly" Weevil confessed. "She was certainly trying to stop it going too far… then Duncan just LOST it, dragged him into the water, started shoving him down" he explained.

"Then Vinnie showed up?" Cliff enquired.

"Yeah, pulls a freaking gun!" Weevil complained.

"I am sensing you disapprove?" Cliff commented, noting the teenagers look of derision at the thought.

"Guns are for chumps, they give losers fake balls and they get people killed when just punching it out could've solved everything" Weevil explained. Cowards used guns. Pussys used blades. A real man used his fists.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door, it was Sheriff Lamb.

"Client Attorney Privilege" Cliff scolded him.

"Yeah, well I got a new question for your _Client"_ Sheriff Lamb scowled. "Why would the Kane family send their chief of security to try and kill Veronica Mars?"

Aaron Echolls stared at the news on his tablet again, so it had been the Kane's had paid Abel Koontz to confess. He watched the footage as Sheriff Lamb hauled Jake Kane into the back of a police car. He had been wondering about that, not too much, after the conviction he was just grateful for the miracle of being in the clear. He had dumped most of his other mistresses after he had killed Lilly Kane and tried to focus his attention on his marriage to his wife. At least for a few months he had. There had been an attack on the Mars girl at the hospital, now the Sheriff's department had a warrant to rip apart the Kane estate.

 _This isn't happening…_ he thought angrily. His agent had called him again for the sixth time that morning. _Why wouldn't these people just leave him alone?_

 _It's all falling apart…_ he thought as he reached for the key to the liquor cabinet in the guest house. He could almost feel the little bitch laughing at him from here. Her ghostly satisfaction that she was getting her brattish way. He had changed the lock recently because his son or Trina had obviously been drinking his good scotch. He poured himself a double and felt his heart beat exploding in his chest. He was still watching the deputy's from SDPD photograph the house. He should try and get some information out of his son, try and see if he could crack open the secrets to where Lilly Kane would have hidden those tapes. He should just have paid some local Fitzpatrick goon to burn down the Kane house some night months ago, instead he had gotten complacent. _Now it was all about to be exposed._

If only Logan hadn't been a suspect, he could have just thrown them onto a plane and fled the country. He still could he supposed, his friend Woody Goodman had a private plane he was always offering them to borrow in return for using his star power for campaign backing. He would just have to wait to see how this played out, if the Mars girl woke up and remembered Duncan was the shooter… it could provide him with just the scapegoat he needed to be in the clear.


	23. Chapter 23

"Dad?" Veronica said softly as she sat upright on the bed, he was currently curled up snoring on the uncomfortable armchair beside her hospital bed. A short red head nurse had just finished bringing her something to eat, ice-cream, a yellow and green mushey kind, it looked vomit worthy. _I am sure this doesn't even have an official flavour…_ she mused. She would pass, the ice chips the nurse had given her though were really helping her throat. She peaked down at her chest, there was a patchwork of sutures starting from her collarbone around to the lower left side of her ribs.

 _Shot through the heart and you are to blame Logan_ … she mused.

"Honey?" Keith said urgently, jumping from his chair to grab her in his arms. He smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead.

"Hey.. handsy!" she joked, wincing slightly from the pain in her chest.

"I have never been so happy to hear your voice" he told her, sitting onto the end of her bed.

"I'm sorry dad…" Veronica told him. She couldn't bare seeing him this way, the worry on his face, he looked greyer somehow, like her little brush from death had left him aged and more fragile. She squeezed his hand. "I'm here… I'm going to be ok" she promised.

"The Kane's sent Clarence Weidman to kill you Veronica…." He told her, tears filling his eyes. "Do you have any idea why they would do something like that to you?"

 _Because I'm a threat to their fortune? Because their son is potentially my brother and we had a very public relationship before we both found out? Because I won't leave Lilly's murder case alone?_

Because Veronica had just realized, that if it hadn't been Logan that day.. and every fibre of her being told her it wasn't, seeing Duncan lose it like that on the beach… he had just become her prime suspect?

"To shut me up probably" she told him. "What happened to everyone else on the beach?" she asked her father. _Logan… you want to know what happened to Logan…_ her mind whispered.

"They are saying Hector Esposito was the one to fire the gun, Eli and Havier are being held on premediated intent to cause grievous bodily harm, Lamb wants to try to charge them for attempted murder of Logan Echolls. Duncan Kane… was not but is now under suspicion of being the shooter… I know how hard that is to hear honey" Keith comforted, he knew how much his daughter still loved the Kane boy, which made this whole situation even more complicated.

 _Attempted murder of Logan Echolls… how badly had he been hurt?_

"And Logan?" she asked, she felt like her entire body clenched, holding her breath for news.

"Was not in Mexico the day of the murder, there was footage found from a traffic camera of Lilly Kane leaving the Echolls estate less than an hour before her body was found" Keith told her, his voice implied that he thought the guilt was pretty clear. _No… it wasn't possible._

"It wasn't Logan…" she argued. She had to talk to Sheriff Lamb… she had to speak to Cliff and the DA.

"The facts don't look good sweetie" Keith sighed, she was tired, and she needed to rest.

"Dad… I KNOW it wasn't Logan" she promised.

"Without proof honey… there isn't much we can do.. at this point, we are just trying to figure out why, how and where people have been keeping these secrets" Keith told her, cupping her cheek and turning to go and get her some water.

 _"I've got a Secret.. and it's a good one" Lilly's voice whispered. "You got work to do Mars…"_

"Dad?" she called to him as he went to the doorway, he turned to look at her. "I know where Lilly kept her secrets"

It was an entire week later before Dr Jeremiah Holtz had granted the release forms for Veronica Mars. It had been a hell of a week. Murder plots, uncovered conspiracies and murderous movie stars. It was like something out of a very over ambitious Hollywood movie.

Veronica's tip to her father about checking the air vents in Lilly Kane's bedroom had uncovered the existence of a trio of sex tapes, featuring Neptune's very own Aaron Echolls and the ill-fated Lilly Kane. News of the discover had led Aaron Echolls to try and flee the country on his boat but he was discovered by the coastal guard a few hundred miles off the coast trying to make it to Mexico. The image of him being hauled off that boat had been playing on a loop on nearly every news station that wasn't showing the headline about Duncan Kane confessing to the attempted murder of Logan Echolls, the movie stars youngest son… apparently. Aaron Echolls had two of them; the SDPD had uncovered payments to an older illegitimate son called Charlie Stone. Logan's half-brother.

A secret half-brother, she wondered again for the thousandth time how Logan must have been dealing with all of this. Upon discovery of the tapes, Lamb had had to release Logan on bail, but they still hadn't been able to see each other. He had refused to press charges against Weevil, the PCHers and Duncan.. given the situation, the revelations about his father, he hadn't been quite sure who had been in the wrong.

 _Logan…_ she wasn't even sure what this thing was between them. She wasn't sure if it was just the bullet wound in her chest, the collapsed lung or if she was really missing him so badly that she felt like she couldn't breathe and her heart ached.

Wallace and Mac had told her that Jake and Celeste Kane were arrested for the attempted murder of this teenage girl, any political savvy they may have had from their billions was lost when the authorities seized control of the Kane's Industries computer files.. it turned out Jake Kane was a member of an illicit club known as The Castle responsible for a high level corruption, murder and blackmail in everything from business interests to the presidency. The list of charges just kept growing as their connection to Weidman was investigated further. Duncan confessed to having had been responsible for putting her in hospital. She had never been more grateful than when the blood tests had proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Keith Mars was indeed her biological father.

Sheriff Lamb had been recalled in an emergency election and her father had been reinstated in the interim. The young deputy who had found the tapes had been given a promotion and offered a junior detectives position in San Diego, Leo D'Amato was going to be a great loss for the Neptune Sheriff's Department. Her father was currently going through a case referred by Vinnie Van Lowe on an attempted blackmailing of the Assistant Mayor, Mr Woody Goodman, apparently someone was stalking his family. Wallace was going to be picking her up from the hospital to take her home in a few minutes. Veronica laughed as Caitlyn told her the story from her date the previous evening with her father, the old man still hadn't lost his shine.

"I'm not going to miss this" Veronica told her. Caitlyn gave her a confused look. "Because I have a feeling that you are going to be around for a while" she smiled. Being around Caitlyn made Veronica feel something that she hadn't for a very long time. Cherished, looked after, mothered. She hadn't realised how much she had been missing the feeling.

"Are you ok to go down the elevator by yourself?" Caitlyn asked as Veronica picked up her small bag.

"If I go very slowly" she smiled.

"Ok… well be careful" Caitlyn replied, handing over the small paper bag with her pain medication. Veronica was very fond of these tiny little pills, they made the world get all floaty.

She made her way to the Elevator and was stunned to see a familiar face when the doors opened.

Her heart skipped a beat. He was bruised and a little tired looking but he was here. Waving shyly at her with his broken hand in a cast.

"You're not Wallace" she smiled.

"No, I'm not Wallace" Logan grinned back.

There was so much she wanted to say, she wanted to leap into his arms, claw him to her, sniff him, mark him as hers, squeeze his shoulders to make sure it was really him… that he was here. For a moment the two of them just stared wordlessly at one another, the door chirped and she stepped inside.

 _Where did they even start? What could they even say?_

They didn't have to say anything, Veronica reached her hand out to interlace her fingers with his good hand and he pulled her closer to him, his eyes were like liquid chocolate pouring over her. He drank in the sight of her, marvelled at her presence in front of him. She felt a lump forming in her throat.

 _How close they had been to losing each other forever…_

He dipped his head and captured her lips with his, kissing her carefully, tenderly. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulder and she leaned against his chest. It felt like coming home.

They held each other like that until they reached the ground floor, the doors opened and Veronica was puzzled to see Wallace standing at the bottom of the elevator looking like he was about to be the barer of bad news, except he wasn't looking at her.

"Have you guys seen the news?" Wallace asked quietly.

"No… not yet… what's going on Wallace?" Veronica questioned, stepping out of the lift.

He pointed towards the television screen in the reception and she felt Logan's hand drop from hers, the headlines were screaming across the screen as footage of ambulances and arresting officers removed the suspect.

 _Aaron Echolls Brutally Slain in Police Station By Wife Lynn Echolls_

She reached for her phone and dialled her dad, it took several tries but he finally answered.

"I take it you just saw the news…" Keith Mars sighed.

"Dad.. what is happening?" she demanded, her eyes trained on Logan's shocked face.

"Aaron Echolls made a statement this morning and tried to shift the blame for Lilly's Murder onto Logan… and Lynn disarmed Deputy Sacks and killed him" Keith told her solemnly.


End file.
